Ahimsa Times 2007 10 SrNo 88

SR No.: 523588
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Ahimsa Times
Publisher: Ahimsa Times
Publication Year: 2007
Total Pages: 16
Language: English
Classification: Magazine, India_Ahimsa Times, & India
File Size: 376 KB

Page 9

AHIMSA TIMES - OCTOBER 2007 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
Page 9 of 16
already been allotted by the State Government on the national highway no. 24 on Moradabad-Delhi road.[Courtesy: Jain Gazette, 20th Sept.,07).
JAIN COMMUNITY MOST MEDIA-SAVVY THAN OTHERS Hindus are slightly more exposed to the media than Muslims in India, but the Jain community, both men and women, is far ahead as far as reading newspapers or magazines is concerned. According to the findings of the latest National Family Health Survey III, 76% Jain women read newspapers or magazines at least once a week as against 40% of Christian, 33% of Sikh, 30% of Buddhist, 23% of Hindu or 18% of Muslim women. The number stands at 95% for Jain men compared to 61% for Buddhist, 60% for Christian, 56% for Sikh, 53% for Hindu and 45% for Muslim men. SCs and STs have the lowest media exposure - 55% of ST women and 38% of ST men are not regularly exposed to media. Overall, in India, 65% of women and 82% of men aged 15-49 years are regularly exposed to any media. The most common form of media for both women and men is television. Over 55% and 63% of women and men respectively watch television at least once a week. However, for women, the next most common media source is the radio.
GUJARAT MLA DECLARES WAR AGAINST HINDU AND JAIN' PRINTS ON KURTAS!
A police station in Ahmedabad was stormed by an angry mob led of local MLA Bhavin Sheth during Dussehra festiwal. The rioteers were armed, not with any weapon but with heaps of kurtas, apparently confiscated from hapless local vendors. The BJP MLA had come to lodge a complaint against an apparel store in the city, which sells fashion garments at budget prices to attract youngsters. With Navratra
season on, kurtas brought out by the store, inscribed with 'Om', 'Gayatri mantra' and 'Navkar mantra' have been a big hit in the market. Sheth told the police officers that these garments hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and Jains and immediate action must be taken to ban their sale,
DO
Sheth explained why his followers object to these kurtas: "The boys, donning these fashion kurtas inscribed with the holy text, invariably perform unholy acts - like dating girls or going to the 'Garba' programmes where they lure the girls performing 'Garba' religiously! This pollutes the religious fervor of elders and offends the sentiments of the religiousminded Hindus and Jains!" "Such clothes should be banned as they hurt the religious sentiments of a section of the society. The sacred texts are used freely and abused in certain cases by youth knowingly or unknowingly". He also presented one of his underlings who threatened to immolate himself if strict action was not taken against the "blasphemy".
Many Jainology scholars vehemently oppose bracketing Jains with Hindus. They point out that Lord Mahavira founded the religion after rebelling against the antiquated and inhuman system that was advocated by the then Hindu leadership - like Varnashrama dharma (which imposes birth-based categorisation of people and prohibits healthy social interaction between different classes).
NIRMAL DOSI, CHAIRPERSON JAINA SCHOLARS PROGRAM DISCUSSING JAIN UNITY IN INDIA
During my last recent trip to India this year, I had the opportunity to meet and talk about Jain unity at various centers. The discussions were organized in conference type settings. The views were openly put forward. Leaders from Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Songarh spoke about the depleting Jain populations and ways to increase
solidarity and influence the world. In Mumbai the meeting was arranged with help from our scholar Ms. Raksha Shah. Dr. R. K. Jain (President of Bharat Jain Mahamandal), Shri Pranlal Sheth (Prominent Shravak), Shri Suresh Gadia (Jain Shravak), and I spoke about need for Jain unity. The meeting concluded with understanding that the only way Jains from all sects can unite is to first have a common door and they should socially unite first.
The meeting in Ahmedabad was arranged by our scholar Dr. Shekharchandra Jain. Nirmal Dosi started the meeting. He said that the Jain population was a significant portion of the Indian population one thousand years ago, and going back 3000 years ago, the world had only Hindu, Jain and Jewish religion. There were no Muslim, Christian, and Buddhists. Five
http://jainsamaj.org/magazines/october 2007.htm
8/11/2009