Ranchi: Governor Ramesh Bais has written a letter to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav in the context of Parasnath, a pilgrimage site for Jainism under Giridih district saying that it should not be developed as a tourism spot.
It was said that on the recommendation of the Jharkhand Government in 2019 it was declared a part of the Wildlife Sanctuary and placed under the Eco Sensitive Zone by the Ministry of Climate Change, Government of India. It has been declared a tourist destination by the Government of Jharkhand. Nowadays, there are complaints of consumption of many other banned substances including meat and alcohol in this holy place.
The Governor has said in his letter that this holy place is the biggest pilgrimage center for Jains in the world and is the Nirvana (salvation) place of 20 of their 24 Tirthankaras and it is associated with the faith of people of Jain society all over the world.
The Jain society believes that the sanctity of this place will be disturbed if Parasnath is declared a tourist destination by the state government. Many representations were received in this context and many representatives of the Jain community from Jabalpur, Damoh, Udaipur, Agra and other places had come to meet him and expressed their objection on this.
In this context, on 26 March 2022, 6 June 2022, 2 August 2022 and 11 December 2022, nationwide peaceful protests were organized by the Vishwa Jain Organization in the name of ‘Shri Sammed Shikhar Ji Bachao Andolan’.
The governor has said that this matter is related to the sentiments of the people of Jain society so that their sentiments are not hurt therefore keeping in mind their felt this matter should be reviewed and reconsidered so that this holy place can be restored. The sanctity should not be hurt and Parasnath Parvatraj and Madhuvan should be allowed to remain holy Jain pilgrimage sites he wrote in his letter.