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"Santhara an exercise for self-purification''

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: Amid reports of Jains undertaking fast-unto-death through "Santhara'' across Rajasthan,Jain groups on Tuesday defended the religious custom, saying it was an exercise for "self-purification'' and could not be equated with suicide or mercy killing.

While two instances of a Jain woman and a man ending their lives have been reported hereover the past one-week, more cases of elderly people starving themselves to death for attaining salvation have come up in several towns across the State. The Jain Ekta Buddhijivi Nagrik Samiti, Rajasthan Vaishya Mahasammelan and other Jain social organisations affirmed at a press conference here that Santhara was an age-old practice of Jainism involving detachment from worldly belongings in pursuit of salvation. It was neither a sin nor a practice to be ashamed of, they said. The deaths of Vimladevi Bhansali, suffering from a brain tumour, last week, and Amarchand Kaswan, suffering from pneumonia and gangrene, on Monday have been reported even as the Rajasthan High Court is seized of a public interest litigation seeking a ban on Santhara and its declaration as a form of suicide. The High Court has issued notices to Jain institutions on the petition.

Panachand Jain, aformer judge of the Rajasthan High Court, said that Santhara could not be compared with suicide or "sati", as it was adopted with full knowledge about its consequences and a deep faith in its religious significance. Suicide, on the other had, was an act resorted to in desperation and in a rage.

Mr. Justice Jain said Santhara, being an essential element of Jainism, was protected under Article 25 of the Constitution, adding that the objection raised amounted to casting an aspersion on the Jain religion.The Jain groups, however, affirmed that the view finally taken by the High Court in the matter would be acceptable to the community.

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