Jains are not minority, but crown of the Hindu society Rikhab Chand Jain A certain class of political

leaders has been repeatedly raising the unnecessary demand of declaring the Jains as minority obviously for the political reasons. On August 12 the Jain society organised a demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi which was uncalled for and unnecessary too. Barring political consideratio ns, conceding the demand of minority status to the Jain community would not be i n the interest of anyone. It would neither protect the Jain religion, nor its se curity. There are no shortcomings either. Many a time the Supreme Court or even the State High Courts have stated that thi s is against the Constitution but the campaign is continuing. Especially during the pious month of worship, the demand for reservation is raised as soon as any political leader or a Chief Minister happens to meet them. I appeal to all such confused class of people to undertake a comparative study o f the Jain scriptures and Bhagvad Gita the main scripture of the Hindus. The Bhagv ad Gita describes Rishab Dev the First Teerthankar of the Jains as incarnation o f Lord Shiva and held in veneration for developing a civilisation. The country i s known as Bharatvarsha after the name of his son Chakravarty Emperor Bharat. Th e Karmayoga, selfless bhakti (devotion), anasakt yoga, etc. are one hundred per cent commensurate with the Jain philosophy. There is not a single principle of J ain philosophy that is misconstrued by the Hindus. Variety or plurality is accep table to both Jains and Hindus. Vinoba Bhave, who realised the highest goal by following Jain process of Sanllek hana; and composed Jin Sutam on the occasion of 25th Nirvan Utsav of Lord Mahavir a firmly stated that there is no difference in Gita and Jain philosophy, both ar e same. Maharshi Ved Vyas first announced the principle of non-violence in the penultima te verse of Mahabharata epic. According to Jain scriptures all the Jain teerthan kars were Kshatriyas in Hindu society. The First Ganadhar Gautama was learned scho lar of Vedas and a Brahmin. Number of Jain acharyas, rishis, sadhus and sadhvis come from the Hindu society. Uptill now there has been no conflict between the Jains and Hindus, nor will be there in the future. At the social level both have a common worshipping practice . The Jain too worship Lakshmi, Ganesh, and celebrate Deepavali, etc. as any of their Hindu counterpart. During the Mughal or British period, any Jain would assert his being Hindu when asked. Now why this difference today? Even if the status of minority is accorded to the community, it would not make any difference for the better. Today, the J ains are enjoying many facilities and opportunities. The practice of going for p olitical benefits and scolding the Hindus should be stopped forthwith. According to the Jain philosophy, the deeds of an individual make him a Jaini. A nybody, following any religion, can become a Jaini provided he follows the Jain principles of life. The religious leaders and Jain society should look into thei r own self and do some serious introspection and declare them as part of the maj ority Hindu society. Within the Jain society too there are 4-5 systems of worshi p. So, why the supporters of multitude want to get separated from the Hindus? Ev en there are imaginary benefits by changing the status in educational institutio ns. Non-violence and respect for all religions are the highest and universal princip

les. There is no need er angle if the Jains uld be safeguarded by future and should not

for the Jains to seek the minority status. Even by any oth considers themselves minority then also their interests wo staying with the Hindu society. They should look into the get carried away.

(The writer is noted industrialist and chairman of TT Limited) http://organiser.org/Encyc/2013/8/18/Jains-are-not-minority,-but-crown-of-the-Hi ndu-society.aspx?NB=&lang=4&m1=m8&m2=m8.24&p1=&p2=&p3=&p4=&PageType=N