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AHIMSA TIMES - JUNE 2008 ISSUE - www.jainsamaj.org
Page 4 of 15
a believer from a non-believer? -Courtesy : Lalit Garg, E-Mail: lalitgarg11@gmail.com
MINORITY STATUS DELHI GOVERNMENT ACCORDS MINORITY STATUS TO JAIN COMMUNITY The State Government of Delhi at its cabinet meeting held on the 10th June, 2008 decided to accord minority status to Jain community on the same lines as given to Sikh, Parsi, Muslim, Bauddh and Christian communities, There had been a long-outstanding demand from Jain community of Delhi to grant inority status so that it could enjoy same benefits as other minority communities. The Delhi council of minister's decision, on June 10, to accord minority status to the Jain community in the Capital was not an easy one. It is learnt that the decision came after a fair amount of lobbying by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit herself and Congress's Lok Sabha MP from Chandni Chowk Kapil Sibal. The decision was a difficult one, considering that a similar proposal had been shot down at least four times by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Congress sources said senior party leaders from the city, including Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president J P Agarwal, had to bat for the community's cause.
जैन समुदाय को
REACTIONS & POLITICS IN MINORITY STATUS FOR JAINS The Sheila Dikshit government accorded minority status to the Jain community in Delhi a move being seen as timed for the Assembly elections, just five months away. The Jains, primarily a business and traders' community, have been
demanding the status for the past several years. In Delhi, the community is known 31 Tech GUT to have largely backed the Bharatiya Janata Party till date. प्रस ।। नई दिल्ली : दिल्ली सरकार ने राजधाने के जैन समुदाय को
Commenting on the issue, Chakresh Jain, head of the Delhi Jain Samaj said that अल्पसंख्याक का दर्जा देने का फैसला
we had been demanding the minority status for the past several years but the किया है। मंगलवर लो नतमजी शील government had been ignoring our demands. Congress MLA Rajesh Jain, the दक्षित को अन्नता में हुई कैबिनेट community's sole representative in Delhi Assembly, said this is not a political बैटक गह फैसला हुआ। शोल ने move. Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan questioned the timing of the decision जताय नि जैन समुदायको ऐसा दर्जा कई | - just before the Assembly elections, scheduled for November and questioned अन्य राज्यों में पहले से मिला हुआ है।
what was the Sheila Dikshit government doing for the past 10 years? इस फैसले से जैन समुदाय भी अपनी शिक्षण संस्थाओं का प्रबंध अल्पसंख्यक संस्थाओं के लिए उप नानदंड के
Reactions within the community to this decision, however, were mixed. A section मुक्कि कर सकेंगे।
was not comfortable being labelled a minority, especially since most Jains are ई-प्रशासन : कैबिनेट बैठक में well-to-do and did not really need the privileges that come with minority status. सरकार की ई-प्रशासन सोसायटी के Fashion Designer Madhu Jain - Most Jains are really affluent - some of them are रजिस्ट्रेशन को मंजूरी दे दी गई। इससे ई- leading industrialists and businessmen in the country. My husband was the MP प्रसासन की तय योजनाओं को असली from Chandni Chowk. His grandfather was one of the biggest businessmen in the जामा पहनाने में मदद मिलेगी। सीएम का
locality in his time. For people like us, it won't really make a difference. It feels कहना है कि इस नई सोसयट से दिल्ली
strange to be labelled as a minority. Minority status should be given to people who सरकार और स्थानीय निकायों की विधिन केबसाहटों के एकोजराण का काम किया
are not affluent and who need the privileges that come with it. This seems to be a जसकेगा। इससे लेगों को अपने कंप्यूटर
purely political move before the elections. Politics makes strange bedfellows. पर एकही भान पर तमाम जानकारिया Priyank Jain, a business analyst who also holds a degree in chemical engineering, और सेवा मिल सकेगी।
says reservation on the basis of caste or religion should not be encouraged. If one
really wants to help society, there should be free education for all. It doesn't mean you get through even if you don't clear the exams just because you belong to a minority. S K Jain a Jain Scholar says, with reservation possibilities in institutions, we can provide jobs for our own community and support them better. It will also help us spread the Jain ideals of non-violence, vegetarianism and helping people.
Credit for achieving minority status for Jains goes to the hard work and pains taking efforts of Shri. Nirmal Sethi, Chief of Digambar Samaj, Prof. Ratan Jain, (9899228882), Founder of Jain Mahasabha, Delhi, Shri, Naren Bhiku Ram Jain (9811027563),E-Mail: artmall2007@gmail.com, Jain Activist and Politician, Shri. Sanjay Jain (09312278313, 09213691505) E-Mail: vishwajains@yahoo.com of Vishwa Jain Sangathan (Regd.).
J&K MAY ALSO SOON HAVE A MINORITY COMMISSION
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8/11/2009
