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experience of conducting and celebrating 18-days long Paryushan Parva in August 2006 in Kuwait (Jain "Sahityacharya" 2007: 5). According to him, different homes were selected for hosting the daily ceremonies in such a manner that no Kuwaiti, Pakistani or other "fundamentalist" individuals should reside in their neighbourhood. These select houses were also supposed to be away from any mosque. A "Happy Birthday" cardboard was displayed at the entrance of the house. Morning worship and religious discourse were frequented mostly by both young and old. In the evening the religious discourse was followed by Aarti and Bhajans. There are about 500 Jain families in UAE, of which about 125 are Digambars. Besides the above mentioned associations the existence of two more socio-cultural associations in Dubai was reported by the Jain Gazzett dated 25th October 2010, namely Arihant Mitra Mandal and Digambar Jain Samaj.
International trade in gems and diamonds has led some Jains to settle in Israel as well as Belgium, South Africa, the U.K. and the U.S.A. In Israel there are about thirty Jain families consisting of about 150 individuals. Almost all of them are Gujarati Swetambar Jains tracing their origin to Palanpur, and are involved in diamond business. "The Gujarati community is socially active and, by and large, well respected in Israel. It has set up an informal association called the Gujarati Indian Association that celebrates major cultural festivals" (Report of the High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora 2001: 115). According to one observer (Shah 1998: 80), "Jain diamond traders have won major export awards both in India and Israel. Jain scholars are made welcome in these places and these unique niche business communities are actively involved in philanthropic work".
South and South-East Asia
We do not have information about the population of Jains in various South Asian countries, except Nepal in which case there were about 21,500 Jains in the late 1990s (Gall 1998: 565, 567). Current population could be estimated at about 30,000. There is also a Jain Temple situated at Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Niketan in Kathmandu. It serves all the major sects of the Jain community. There are about half a dozen Jain associations in Nepal. The major ones being: Nepal
92 Jains in India and Abroad
