A day after the Central government assured members of the Jain community that sanctity of their holy place, Sammed Shikharji on Parasnath hills in Jharkhand, will be maintained and there would be no move to promote the place as a “tourist place”, members of the Santhal tribe in the State have staked claim to the hill as their Marang Buru (hill deity). They have decided to launch protests in five States asserting their right to worship the hill on January 17.
Santhal tribe is the largest tribal community in Jharkhand and has a sizeable population in other States like Bihar, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal. The tribe worships nature and over 40 lakh members of the community reside in Jharkhand.
“The Centre and the State governments may have addressed the demand of Jain community to maintain religious sanctity of Parasnath hills but they should also know that, before them we, the members of Santhal community, had been worshipping the Hill as our Marang Buru. We also demand the right to worship Buru and on January 17, will protest peacefully in all five States to put forth our demand to the Prime Minister and President of the country through respective District Magistrates and Deputy Commissioners”, Salkahn Murmu, ex-MP and president of Santhal organisation Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan, told The Hindu over phone.
“If governments at the Centre and State fail to consider our demand, 1 crore Santhal tribal members would protest in 50 districts of these five States on January 17,” Mr. Murmu said while adding, “The Jains have illegally grabbed the place, the biggest pilgrimage site of Santhal tribe and we have all the records with us. We will also call for Bharat bandh if our issues are not addressed.” Some 15 years ago, a local Santhal leader who raised the same issue was “murdered there”, claimed Mr. Murmu.
However, well-known tribal social activist of Jharkhand Dayamani Barla said “the governments must explore a middle path in the controversy”. “The Santhals have not only been living all around Parasnath Hills since ages but also worship the hill as Marang Buru like they worship Lugu Buru [hill] in Bokaro district. There should be a middle way so that religious sentiments of both the Jains and the Santhal tribe are not hurt”, Ms. Barla told The Hindu. Local Santhal tribe member Arjun Hemram said, “The tribal Chief Minister of a tribal State need to promote tribal culture which has been in practice since ages”. “The Parasnath hills are actually called as Marang Buru and have clearly been mentioned in the Gazetteer of undivided Bihar’s Hazaribagh district in 1932, much before it became part of separate Giridih district”, he added. Jharkhand was bifurcated from Bihar as a separate State in November 2000.
Meanwhile, the International Santhal Council too has threatened to launch a revolt if their demand is not met. The working president of the Council, Naresh Kumar Murmu, has said, “The Jain community had lost the legal battle with Santhal community in the past when the issue of Parasnath had gone to the Privy Council [the highest court in the British empire] and it was held that Santhals have the rights of hunting at Parasnath hills”. Every year in mid-April, Santhal tribal community members from Giridih, Hazaribagh, Manbhum, Bankura and Santhal Pragna assemble at Parasnath hills to celebrate their three-day religious festival.
Recently, members of Jain community have been demanding and protesting in different States of the country to scrap the government notification to promote Parasnath hills as a religious tourist place. They fear that once their scared place is declared as a tourist site it would lead to influx of tourists on vehicles, consumption of non-vegetarian food and liquor. It is said that 20 out of 26 Teerthankaras (Jain monks) had attained moksha (salvation) at the holy Parasnath hills in Giridih district.
On Thursday, the Central government directed officials to maintain sanctity of the community’s religious site. The State government, said sources in the State Tourism Department, was mulling to constitute a committee comprising members of Jain community, local people and the Santhal tribal community so that a resolution could be passed (on their demands) and acted upon by the government. “Very soon all will be cleared and resolved,” said the source requesting anonymity.
