"No Steps Will Be Taken To Hurt Sentiments Of Jain Community": Minister

Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday said no step will be taken to hurt the sentiments of the Jain community which has been demanding the protection of one of their sacred sites in Jharkhand.

Jains across the country have been demanding the scrapping of a 2019 Jharkhand government notification designating Parasnath Hills as a tourist place.

Mr Reddy said the central government has already taken up the issue with the Jharkhand government and he himself wrote a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren raising the issue.

"I want to give guarantee that no step will be taken to hurt the sentiments of the Jain community," he said at a press conference here.

The minister said the Prime Minister Modi's government respects the sentiments of all communities and want to convey to the Jains that it also respects their sentiments.

"No step will be taken to desecrate the sacred place. I want to assure that to save this sacred place, the central government will try its best. I have written a letter to the chief minister while the (tourism) ministry is also taking up it with the state government," he said.

Mr Reddy clarified that no order has been issued by the Union Tourism Ministry with regard to the Parasnath Hills in Jharkhand and he had already assured in Parliament that the central government had no intention to do anything in the Jharkhand hill and will not do anything to hurt the sentiments of the Jain community.

Asked about the proposed move to make the site a eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), the minister said such a move will ensure more protection to the site.

The Jharkhand government, in the 2019 notification, designated 200 locations, including Shri Sammed Shikharji, as a tourist destination for administrative convenience.

Jains fear that designating Shri Sammed Sikharji in Parasnath Hills as a tourist destination will lead to the consumption of liquor and non-vegetarian food by visitors, hurting the religious sentiments of the community.

Shri Sammed Shikharji in Parasnath Hills in Giridih district, some 160 km from Ranchi and home to the highest peak in the state, is among the holiest places of the Jains, for both Digambaras and Shwetambars sects, as 20 of the 24 Jain tirthankaras attained 'moksha' (salvation) in this location.

The Jain community demands that Parasnath Hills not be designated as a tourist place, apprehending that hotels, bars and restaurants will come up there destroying the sanctity of the place.

Meanwhile, the Centre stayed all tourism activities at the Parasnath Hill where the Jain religious site is located and directed the Jharkhand government to immediately take all steps necessary to protect its sanctity.

The Union Environment Ministry sent a office memorandum to the state in this regard following directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)