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AHIMSA TIMES - MAY 2007 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
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Vol. No. 83 May, 2007
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When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow
Anais Nin
WHO IS A MINORITY - Mr. Sanjeev Nayyar - The term minority is not defined in the Constitution. Nowhere in the world, except in India, is a minority defined by religion or caste. Is anyone listening? A lone judge of the Allahabad High Court caused a nationwide flutter this April by declaring that Muslims could no longer be treated a religious minority in Uttar Pradesh. Although a division bench of the same high court stayed the order it is worth reviewing the legal and political practices and doctrines that determine who constitutes a minority.
The term 'minority' has been used in Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution but it has nowhere been defined. According to the Supreme Court judgment of August 2005, "Minority as understood from the constitutional scheme signifies an identifiable group of people or a community who are seen as entitled to protection due to deprivation of its religious cultural and educational rights by other 'majority' communities. Majority here refers to a group or community that is likely to gain political power in elections under a democratic form of Government".
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SAINTS CASE FILED IN THE COURT AGAINST JAIN DIKSHA ACCORDED TO FOUR MINOR PERSONS IN TERAPANTH SECT AT UDAIPUR - Four children, namely Ankit Daglia, Mayank Daglia, Gautam Kasmiya and Siddharth Kasmiya were accorded Jain Muni diksha with the blessings of and in the presence of Acharya Shri Mahapragya on the 2nd May, 2007 at village Semad in Gogunda Tehsil of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. All the four persons, who were accepted as Jain Muni are below 18 years of age. Two persons, one Hukam Singh of Udaipur and other, Kanahyalal Tak of Nathdwara have filed a legal suit in the court of Mr. Brajendra Kumar Jain, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Udaipur for instituting criminal proceedings against all the persons, connected with the diksha, namely, parents of the four candidates for diksha, Acharya Shri Mahapragya, Yuvacharya Shri Maha Shraman, Sadhwi-Pramukha, Shri Kanak Prabha Ji, President and members of Shwetambar Terapanth Sabha, in whose presence and with whose consent the diksha of four persons were held. The plea for instituting legal proceedings is that the four persons, who have been given diksha are still minor and they are not capable of thinking about their good or bad in future, understand the implications of accepting diksha and taking this abrupt decision for their whole life.
Acharya shri Mahapragya in a rejoinder has stated that age has nothing to do in case of diksha and those who talk about finding relationship between the two are either ignorant about spiritualistic traditions in Jain religion or they are deliberating ignoring the Jain philosophy of spiritualism. Diksha is just a case of independent consciousness and it is not an imprisonment. Some people are bent upon creating mis-givings amongst the masses about Jain diksha and they compare muni-diksha with beggary. Acharya Shri said that he would like to advise such people to worry more about those thousands of children in the country, who become criminals and spoil the entire society due to lack of education poverty and in the absence of well-reared culture. The entire Jain community of Rajasthan is feeling highly perturbed on learning about this incident.
CHATURMAS ANNOUNCED/EXPECTED Gachhadhipati Acharya Shri Nityanand Surishwar Ji maharaj has indicated that his coming chaturmas will be held at Khudala, near Falna in Rajasthan. He will make entry into Khudala on the 20th July. A large and impressive procession, carrying of 21 elephants, 51 camels, 51 horses and seven bands will be taken out on the occasion. She was born at Ichalkaranji on the 10th October, 1983.
http://www.jainsamaj.org/magazines/may 2007.htm
8/11/2009
