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Jaina Community - A Social Survey
Saptami is discontinued, the performance of Śrāddha ceremony from religious motive is declining, and bad practices like brideprice, child-marriage, extra expenditure on ceremonies connected with pregnancy and death, beating the breasts while crying over the death of a person, etc. are going out of vogue. Further, they have created interest in the Jaina religion, history, literature, culture, etc. as a result of which it is found that generally people are marrying among the Jainas only and the marriage ceremonies are performed according to Jaina rites and that the Jainas are inclined to take religious education and to observe Jaina practices day by day. But these associations have not created a sense of one-ness among all Jainas. On the contrary they have fostered separatist tendencies. Practically all associations are confined to a caste or to a sect or. a subsect and those which are free to all persons irrespective of caste or sect are very few, without influence and have not as yet become popular.
Along with associations the Jainas also started newspapers or journals with a view to educate the people in the principles of Jainism, to safeguard Jainism from the attacks of other religionists and to solve the social problems confronting the society from time to time. These journals are mostly conducted by the Jaina associations and as such the traits of Jaina associations are clearly visible in Jaina journals also. There are caste and sub-càste journals like “Osavāla ”, “Osavāla Navayuvaka”, “Kachchi Dasā Osavāla Prakasa”, “Khandelavāla Hitechchhu", etc., sect and sub-sect journals like “Sthānakavāsī Jaina”, “Digambara Jaina ”, “Tāraņapantha Digambara Jaina”, etc.; regional journals like "Pragati āņi Jinavijaya,” “Jaina-Bandhu', the official organs of the Dakshina Bhārat Jaina Sabha and the Mahārāshtrīya Jaina Sabhā, etc.; and the all-India papers like “ Vīra”, “Jaina Sandesa” and “Jaina Gazette” (Hindi), the official organs of the three All India Digambara Jaina associations, “Jaina Prakāśa,” the organ of All-India Sthanakavāsi Jaina Conference, etc. A very few papers like “Jaina Gazette ” and “ Jaina Jagat,” which are the official organs of Bhārata Jaina Mahāmandala, are concerned with all Jainas. Again, “Jaina Mahiladarśa, ” “ ļaina Mahilā” and other papers are mainly devoted to the problems of Jaina women and are mostly conducted by Jaina ladies. The papers are published in English, Hinuī, Gujarāthī, Marāthi, and Kannada languages and many
