On Tuesday, at 6.00 AM, Muni Sugyeya Sagar Maharaj, who was on a hunger-strike, in order to protest the turning of Jharkhand’s Sammed Shikhar, which is a Jain pilgrimage site, into a tourist spot, gave his life. The 75-year-old Muni Sugyeya Sagar was on a hunger-strike till death from 25th December, against the Jharkhand government’s decision. His last journey started from the Sanganer Sanghi Ji Temple, following which his samadhi took place.
The last statement was that Shri Sammed Shikhar should be announced as a ‘Jain pilgrim site’, and he added that he would not consume water or food till the time this was done.
Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren government has announced the Parasnath mountain as a tourist spot, which is considered to be the pilgrimage site with highest importance by the Jain community. The government, in order to develop it as a tourist spot, has prepared a 250-page master plan. The government has claimed that with this move, the public facilities will augment, so that more and more people can visit this place.
On the other hand, in Gujarat’s Surat, on Tuesday itself, more than 15 thousand people from the Jain community held a silent protest against the move of the Jharkhand government.
