Thousands of Indians are protesting for the death
Thousands of Indians are protesting for the right to starve themselves to death
Women from the Jain community, followers of a
religion founded by Mahavir, attend a prayer meeting for world peace at
Gandhinagar, about 35 km (22 miles) north of the western Indian city of
Ahmedabad, September 6, 2009. Thousands of people from the community
participated in the prayer meeting for world peace on Sunday.
Thousands of members of the austere Jain religion protested across
India today for the legal right to take part in an ancient ritual of
starving themselves to death.
Dressed in traditional white kurtas and trousers and holding banners
that read “Suicide is crime. Santhara is religion”, they marched
silently through the city of Jaipur in the western state of Rajasthan.
Jains have been campaigning after a Rajasthan High Court ruled this
month that their voluntary custom of fasting until death or Santhara was
a form of suicide, which is illegal under Indian law.
“Our peaceful protest is against the judgment pronounced by the high
court without understanding the concept and objectives” of the
tradition, Jain leader Rajendra Godha said.
Godha said up to 100,000 devotees took part in the protest that
snaked through Jaipur for several kilometres and also saw schools and
businesses run by Jains close for the day.
Additional deputy commissioner of police Gyanendra Singh put the protest numbers much lower, at between 35,000 and 40,000.
Smaller protests were also held in other cities including in Mumbai,
where an AFP photographer said several thousand gathered peacefully
under a tent to hear speeches by two priests.
Jain leaders have said they will appeal to the Supreme Court against
the lower court’s ruling, saying the decision was against their
religious right which is enshrined in the constitution.
As part of their religion, Jains can take a vow to give up food and
water as a way of embracing death. It is unclear how many deaths occur
every year but local media put the number at a couple of hundred.
A Hindu-majority country, India is also home to large numbers of
religious minorities including 4.2 million Jains, according to 2011
census figures.
Jainism is thousands of years old, a non-violent religion whose
philosophical roots are based in ancient India and are inspired by the
same principles of tolerance that influenced freedom fighter Mahatma
Gandhi.
Women from the Jain community, followers of a
religion founded by Mahavir, attend a prayer meeting for world peace at
Gandhinagar, about 35 km (22 miles) north of the western Indian city of
Ahmedabad, September 6, 2009. Thousands of people from the community
participated in the prayer meeting for world peace on Sunday.
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