Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/JHARKHAND: Indian authorities have banned an important Jain pilgrimage site for tourists over the defilement of the environmentally-sensitive area.
Sensitive pilgrimage site
Sammed Shikharji, atop Jharkhand state’s highest mountain, is an environmentally sensitive area. The Indian central government has asked the state to ban all activities that “defile the site,” owing to the consumption of non-vegetarian food and alcohol.
Comprising around 4.5 million believers, the Jain community is a religious minority in India. Under the spiritual guidance of monks, devout Jains follow the tenets of their religion.
These include detailed knowledge of day-to-day life, specifically when to eat, what to eat and what not to eat. The community feared that tourism would harm the sanctity of the pilgrimage site in Jharkhand. For weeks, members have protested against the state government’s move to turn the area into a tourist spot.
The environment ministry in 2019, following the state government’s proposal, allowed tourism at Parasnath Hill, where this site is located.
It issued a letter to the state government on Thursday, which said that this site was necessary for the nation and community. Furthermore, the state was asked to ban all eco-tourism and tourism activities and enforce all rules made for eco-sensitive zones.
This includes the sale and consumption of intoxicants, banning loud music, activities that can harm the area’s ecology, and defiling sites of religious and cultural significance.
Bhupendra Yadav, the minister for the environment, said in a Twitter message that the federal government was committed to “protecting and preserving the rights of the Jain community over all their religious sites, including Sammed Shikhar.”
