Can Jain tradition of Fasting to death be banned?

(Above: Picture of Vimla Devi's body kept for darshan of devotees)

Even as the Rajasthan High Court is hearing the petition challenging the 2,300 year old Jain practice of Santhara as per which a person decides to stop taking food and water until death in order to attain salvation/ 'moksha', similar deaths are reported from all over Rajasthan.

After Vimla Bhansali committed Santhara in Jaipur and Amarchand Kaswan also died in this ritual in Ajmer, now it is Dhani Devi Pugalia in her 20th day of Santhara in Bikaner. She is member of Terapanthi sub-sect of the Shwetambar sect of Jains, is on deathbed. Meanwhile, Monk Merubhushan has also announced that he will take the similar route to end life. Another lady Keila devi has also vowed the same. And these are just reports from urban areas of Rajasthan.

I spoke to a friend of mine whose family had two Sallekhana (the Digambars call it Sallekhana Vrata) recently in MP. Is it a form of suicide, euthanasia or an abominable practice like Sati that should be stopped legally.

Practically I think it is not easy to stop Santhara. Jainism is one of the oldest religion in the world (Mahavir, the last of 24 Tirthankars was a younger contemporary of Gautam Buddha) and Jains claim that India got the name Bhaarat owing to the name of Bharat, son of first Tirthankar Rishabh.

The tradition exists for long and every year hundreds commit sallekhana. Never the need for curb on the practice was felt as Jainism went into near-extinction and was almost considered a part of Hinduism until the revivalism when Jains decided to drop their surnames (Shah, Sheth, Lodha, Godha, Khandelwal, Kasliwal, Bakliwal, Baid, Sethia, Sanghvi, Surana, Banthia, Bansal, Bhandari, Agarwal etc) and instead write Jain. Thus Jains became a unique people, a majority of whom (not in Gujarat though where surnames like Shah were not replaced), began writing their religion as their surname to appear more in number. Ever heard a Rajesh Hindu, Salim Musalman or a David Jew!

So being a micro-minuscule minority Jains grappled with a serious problem of preserving their identities like their beliefs (they are atheists and don't believe in god), places of worship 'Jinalaya' that is generally known as Jain Mandir and other unique traditions.

You can't simple ban the Santhara because it is about a community that is very minor (just 0.4% of India's population) and further divided in sects and sub-sects demographically spread in such a way that a consensus is very difficult. to find. Being less in number, they are more insecure about their religion. See how the Parsis who have remained just 75,000 and still not ready to accept half-Parsis (those who marry outside the community) even after their survival is at stake.

Apart from the arguments in favour like that Santhara is not a social evil because both men and women go for it unlike Sati or that it is not forcible and people take the vow themself, there are many other aspects to it.

Firstly, it's illegal and a crime to take one's own life. Secondly, it is a fact that majority of those who take Santhara are women and often in rural areas, the 'old person who is of no use' goes for it and the family often encourages it because in rural areas they gain prestige and also other monitory benefits in some regions, not all. Thirdly, some other Jain traditions like the practice of making children as monks (a 9-year-old girl was sent by her parents to go and live a celibate ascetic for life) are not entirely agreeable in a free democratic society. The case of the girl was in the court until I knew and her parents and the Jain community claimed that she was herself wanting to become a monk!

Still, voices against Santhara should come from within the Jains. Has anybody heard any voice against it from them? Not a single one. Even the most fiery social activists including women) (belonging to Jainism) who keep voicing their concern on all social 'evils' just keep mum when it comes to Santhara or Jain Nuns' plight or the 'deeksha' at an early age.

If a Guru's permission is necessary before embarking on Santhara, then the Gurus/Monks can be urged by governments to not give permission. But is it practical? Most Jains believe in Santhara and they consider death as a celebration unlike other communities. Even governments will not be able to force them. A clear majority of Hindus is against Sati and condemns it. However, it is difficult to find a Jain who does not believe in Santhara traditioon.

The practice has been existing since time immemorial and just because of the media boom people have come to know about it. It could probably have been banned in the years after independence but government can't take such a step just because media is highlight something that is occurring for centuries. Didn't the great emperor Chandragupta Maurya abandon his kingdom and died of Sallekhana? Jains are the most educated community in the country with a vast treasure of literature preserved in their libraries (in Jinalaya and Sthanaks) and unless a reformist movement comes out, nobody can force a change. (Jainisim has had several reformist movements over the last 500 years).