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communities participated under the banner "Vaishya Self-Pride Mahakumbh".
Notwithstanding the deficit of politicians however, Jain community has certainly produced scholars, authors, saints and philosophers, educationists, engineers, doctors, scientists, teachers, lawyers, accountants, bureaucrats, publishers, filmmakers and social activists in numbers disproportionate to their size in India (See Appendix IV).
Against this backdrop the entire range of political activities of Jains at national, provincial and local levels need to be studied. Thus, for example, why only Madhya Pradesh could produce so many Jain Chief Ministers? Or, what explains the rise of Veerendra Kumar as two-time M.P. and minister from Kerala which has a Jain population of only 4,000 in the entire state. The history, organisation and functioning of various Jain associations such as Young Men's Jaina Association, Shree Baharat Varshiya Digambar Jain Mahasabha, Shvetambar Jain Mahasabha, All India Shvetambara Jain Conference, All India Sthanakvasi Jaina Conference, Dakshina Bharat Jaina Sabha (Digambar), Maharathtriya Jain Sabha (Shvetambar), Bharat Jaina Mahamandala, All India Digambar Jain Parishad, Bhartiya Jain Milan, etc. need to be analysed. At the same time, ethnic Jain press/journalism, journalists and their associations need our attention. Attention is also needed to take stock of Jain academic/religious magazines and journals. Finally, Jain professional associations (of Chartered Accountants, Engineers, Doctors, Pandits, etc.) as well as the Jain NGOs are to be sociologically investigated.
To sum up, the Jains as a community display a less interactive role in politics and humanitarian events. Proactive and physical participation appears to be lacking among the Jains which they try to compensate by making donations for various causes of their concern.
Dualistic Organization
Like the Jews and Parsis, the Jains are basically a trading community. Such "marginal" communities are characterized by their having the dual ethic or dual value system (e.g. absolute vs relative, in-group vs out-group, etc.), which help them in adjusting with their respective majority communities on the one hand and in maintaining their own
127 Jains in India and Abroad
