Book Title: Ahimsa the Ultimate Winner
Author(s): N P Jain
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

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Page 258
________________ We have committed grave sins and limitless violence towards what we call Mother Earth. Fertile lands have become barren, deserts are expanding, forests have disappeared, wild life is almost extinct, lakes have dried up, rivers and oceans are highly polluted, and fresh air is becoming a rare commodity. The violence of resources abuse has reached such proportions that 10% of Earth's potentially fertile lands have become wastelands and another 25% await the same fate. Every year the world is losing 8.5 million hectares through erosion and silting. Over 20 million hectares of tropical forests are being cut down each year. We are inviting doom at our doorstep by disturbing the peaceful and mutually supportive nature's equilibrium. There is the story of a lake region in India with a large frog population. Frogs became extinct because frog-legs were exported for huge profits, and the human population then became victim to the deadly black fever due to the poisonous sting of some insects whom earlier the frogs used to devour. Such things happen when we disrupt nature's fine balance of interdependent survival and growth. US industry releases annually about 10 billion pounds of toxic into streams and rivers polluting both surface as well as underground water. Due to intense infiltration of toxic, it is said that rate of cancer is rising by 20% in USA. We have made geography history - a beautiful geography adorned by bounties of Nature has been turned into a tragic history of environmental degradation. An African proverb reminds us of our responsibility to the Universe when it says that, "the world was not left to us by our parents, but was lent to us by our children”. Indiscriminate killing of animal and bird life Indiscriminate killing of animal and bird life for sport, hunting and consumption is another example of violent behaviour Ahimsa: The Ultimate Winner * (231) Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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