Deccan Chronicle
August 28, 2015, 07.33 am IST
Chennai:
Over 10,000 people including women and children representing the Jain community marched from Sowcarpet to Ayanavaram on Thursday to protest against a Rajasthan high court order on Jain practice of Sallekhana or Santhara (facing death voluntarily at the end of one’s life).
The court order passed on August 11 condemned the practice of Sallekhana considering it to be an attempt to suicide. The Jain community wants to continue with this ritual as the members believe it is not committing suicide but practicing a tradition that has been around for centuries.
Dr Priyadarshini Jain, head of Jainology department, Madras University, who was part of this protest, is of the opinion that Jainism is a religion of the conqueror. “Jainism believes that our soul is pure soul and attached with Karma. So when one realizes that one’s body is no longer supporting him, only then one takes vow of Sallekhana and become spiritual. The court does not understand any of Jainism. The ban should be revoked,” she said.
Goutam Kankriya Jain, general secretary of Sri Jain Maha Sangh, said the judge who passed this order does not understand Jainism. “It is a voluntary tradition, no one is forced. It is for the purity of the soul this tradition is practiced,” he said.