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Jain Diaspora
Late Dr. L. M. Singhvi, in one of his last public speaking role, inaugurated first ever JAIN DIASPORA conference at JAINA Convention in July of 2007. There were many luminaries present on the dais:
Dr. N. P. Jain (Diplomat and former Ambassador to the U.N.), Dr. Kumarpal Desai, Acharya Shri Chandanaji, Gurudev Shri Chitrabhanuji, etc. and in the audience were delegates from Kuwait, Dubai, and UK with scores of Jain leaders from the USA and Canada. It was an electrifying gathering, as everyone in the room believed that they were witnessing a historic moment - beginning of a global movement to unite all the Jains.
Since then every two years, at JAINA conventions, lectures, seminars and discussions occur on JAIN DIASPORA but the magic of the First Diaspora Conference never reappeared. Why? The answer to that question lies in the understanding of how Jain communities in various countries came into being and how they grew. Lets first look at where overseas Jains are.
The word Diaspora is a Greek word meaning any particular community leaving outside its own country. There are roughl 300,000 Jains living outside of India. North America (US and Canada) has about 1,25,000; Europe 50,000; Africa 400,008,000; in Nepal, 6,000; in Persian gulf countries 3,000; in Singapore and
Dilip Shah
