Goof up by Jains in the Hindu-Jain dispute at Shri Girnar ji Siddhakshetra

Dear fellow Jains,
Jay Jinendra

Here at Shri Mahavirji Digambara Jain Atishay Kshetra, Shri Mahavirji, Rajasthan, - a seminar (sangoshthi) with ~ 80 participants was organized on June 8-9, 2013 on the Girnarji Hindu – Jain dispute [where on January 1, 2013 Jain Muni Prabal Sagarji was gravely assaulted by Muktanandgiri, the Jains are not allowed to have equal right as to Hindus to worship at 5 th peak (known as Neminath Tunk and also as Dattatrey Tunk) and the Jains face many other problems and harassment during pilgrim].

During this seminar colored pamphlets (small booklet) were distributed in which it was mentioned at many places that despite efforts of many prominent leaders of Jain Community the Interim Order of Gujarat High Court dated February 17, 2005 is not being implemented by Gujarat Government therefore Jains are getting all these problems and it was projected as if most of their problems will be solved if this order is implemented.

I requested the participants of this seminar to provide me the copy of this Interim Order and on June 20, 2013 I got this order copy (which I can email if your email ID is SMSed at 07829074704) from one of the participant (advocate in this matter) and I am surprised to see this Interim Order. In fact this Interim Order is against Jain Community and more or less is being implemented therefore Jains are facing all the said problems.

It is evident from this Interim Order that Jains committed blunder of taking burden of proving (before asking any thing from Court) that the site is Neminath Trunk and idols / scriptures / foot-prints are of Lord Neminath without putting similar burden on Hindus to prove that the site is Dattatrey Tunk and idols / scriptures / foot-prints are of Lord Dattatrey. And in the process naively gave practical exclusive possession & title of site to Hindus and accepted the arrangement of visiting the site as tourists or as followers of any other religion like Muslims etc of a secular country. In a nutshell Hindus got the possession & title and everything [that is why they took permission from authorities (a right recognized by even Jains in Interim Order) for new construction and for replacing idol of Lord Dattatrey] without proving anything.

As told to me by many participants of this seminar, the main factor behind not fighting cases in Courts etc properly by Jains is the unfounded fear of Jains where (in a legally baseless & ridiculous manner) Jains think that Hindus are much more in numbers than Jains and Narendra Modi is ruling in Gujarat.

But Still there is time, Jains should organize another small seminar with few participants at Girinarji where after studying all the pending & so called decided cases (in Courts and with Police & Administration) and by taking ground realty in reckoning - instead of wasting their time in digging-out references to prove the title (as they unnecessarily did in Shri Mahavirji on June 8-9) - the Jains should vigorously renew legal battle to gain exclusive possession of 5 th peak (Neminath Tunk) so that after Sidh Kshetra Sammed Shikharji the second most sacred place for Jains the Girinarji Sidh Kshetra can be retrieved from Hindus so that Jains can offer Pooja-Archana over there as per Jain-Amnay {faith} during the time allowed by Court.

Here one more point is important and relevant. The Jain Tirth Kshetra / Atishay Kshetra / Sidh Kshetra are owned, controlled and run by Trusts of handful of people mostly from outside. For example in Girnarji Trust, the Jains from Gujarat have negligible representation. But for protecting Girinarji, the Gujarati Jains from Girinarji, Junagadh District, its Division and Gujarat State are expected (being effective) to fight & struggle - which is impractical in a democratic country because now days nobody takes interest unless he / she has representation and stakes in it.

Therefore if Trusts of all these are not reconstituted by giving proper representation to local Jains through Jain Temple Societies and their Federations and to such International Organizations of Jains in other countries like USA, UK etc, then these apex places of Jain Religion are bound to face more and similar problems in future and that will be fatal for Jain Community and Religion

Yours truly,
Hem Raj Jain

My contact details are as under:

Hemraj Jain
A 3 Shri Mahavirdham
Shri Mahavirji
Pin Code 322220
District Karauli
Rajasthan
India

Telephone
+91.78290.74704 (m)

Email
hemraj_jain@yahoo.com

Minority status: Govt to give a fresh look into demand of Jain community

New Delhi, April 10
Ahead of poll season, the government has decided to give a fresh look into the demand of the Jain community for grant of central minority status. Currently there are five centrally notified minorities-Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis. 

The assurance to this effect came from Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan after he met 10 delegates of Jain organisations earlier this week. The minister has asked the delegation to submit a fresh representation for the same to be taken up with the PM.

Present in the meeting was Sneh Lata Jain, wife of MoS Rural Development Pradeep Jain, who is said to be facilitating the process. The government met the delegates after their leader Sanjay Jain today broke his fast unto death following the Centre's assurances in this regard.

Speaking to The Tribune, Amit Jain, a delegate, said: "Our demand is old. In 1991 when the Census was published, Jains made up 0.1 per cent of the population. The National Minorities Commission Act under which the minorities were notified was passed in 1992 and the notification regarding five central minorities came in 1993. Jains were ignored." Jains are demanding the minority status on grounds that they are a religions minority and their religion is separate from Hinduism.

The Centre, however, keeps citing a review petition currently pending in the Supreme Court on this issue. The review was filed by Bal Patil, Convenor of Dakshin Bharat Jain Subha, after a three-judge bench of the apex court ruled that the Centre should take a decision on the matter while also adding that no further addition be done to the list of notified minorities.

The government says the matter is sub judice and no decision can be taken on it despite Jains constituting only 0.4 per cent of India's population as against 13.4 pc Muslims, 2.3 pc Christians, 1.9 pc Sikhs, 0.8 pc Buddhists and 0.4 pc Parsis, the notified minorities under Section 2 C of the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992.

National Commission for Minorities chairperson Wajahat Habibullah told TNS that the Centre can go ahead on the issue. "The Commission has interpreted the Bal Patil judgment to be in favour of Jains because the judgment said if any minority feels challenged, it can approach the NCM and through it the Centre. In the past, the Centre said it was for the states to decide on grant of minority status to communities but we told the Centre that it was empowered under the NCM Act to decide on its own," Habibullah said.

Jains argue that they have a separate set of rituals of birth and death and deserve their due as a minority. UP, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Maharashtra - have notified Jains as a minority.

But Jains seek the protection under NCM Act to protect their places of pilgrimage which are allegedly under attack. "Recently Udaygiri and Khandgiri caves in Odisha were occupied forcibly by some sections though these caves have a Jain stamp. Our saints are also being attacked," Sanjay Jain said. Central minorities are entitled to benefits under the PM's 15 point programme and including central scholarships.

JAIN DEMAND IS OLD

 

Jain demand for minority status is almost a century old. When in British India the Viceroy and Governor General of India Lord Minto took a decision in principle of giving representation to important minorities in the Central Legislature, Seth Manek Chand Hirachand from Mumbai, an eminent Jain leader and Acting President of Bharatvarshiya Digamber Jain Subha made an appeal in 1909 to the Governor General for the inclusion of Jains in the Council.

Hindu Law for Jains: Supreme Court Sends Notice to Center

R Sedhuraman, The Tribune 26th October 2012

 New Delhi, October 25
The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre, seeking its response within six weeks on a plea for a “separate and distinct” identity for Sikhs in laws relating to succession, adoption, divorce and maintenance.

A three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir has asked the Law Ministry, Attorney General GE Vahanvati and the Minority Affairs Ministry to give their views on whether Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists could be included in laws meant exclusively for Hindus.

According to petitioners Birendra Kaur and Rohit Garg, the Anand Marriage (Amendment) Act 2012, notified in June had solved only the problem of registration of marriages by Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. Earlier, they had to register their marriages under the Hindu Marriage Act 1955.

For other matters relating to succession, adoption, divorce and maintenance, people professing these three faiths still had to resort to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act 1956, they contended.

The petitioners questioned the wisdom of including Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists under the laws were meant only for the Hindus, if one were to go by the titles. “When all the four religions stand admittedly on an equal footing and are independent of each other, is it right for the legislature” to mention just one religion in the title, they wanted to know.

“Making a law applicable to all religions is one thing. Calling all religions by the name of a single religion for the purpose of law is quite another,” they said, contending that this amounted to discrimination.

According to them, the word “Hindu” in the titles of these laws should be replaced with either “national” or “Indian.”

Further, under the existing laws divorce was allowed on the ground of change of religion by a spouse. However, this was not possible if one of the partners in a Sikh marriage converted either to Hinduism, Jainism or Buddhism.

“This is true of married couples of all the four religions. Thus the word ‘Hindu’ is patently discriminatory. For example, if one of the Hindu partners converts to the Parsi religion, divorce is possible. If the partner converts to Buddhism, divorce is not possible,” the petition explained.

This problem, arising from “linguistic errors in legislative drafting,” was against the Constitution which had accorded equal status and independent identities to Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism, the petitioners said.

“Identity is an innate and powerful emotional feeling and is part of the right to life. That the Sikh identity be preserved as a separate and distinct identity while drafting statutes causes no difficulty for the State at all and it requires only a little sensitivity while drafting statutes to maintain this identity within the statute itself,” they averred.

The petitioners had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court with their plea on September 30, 2011, but the court dismissed it three days later, prompting them to move the SC. The SC Bench, which included Justices SS Nijjar and J Chelameswar, passed the order last week when the appeal came up for hearing.

Maharashtra Govt. to try for minority status to Jains at national level

PTI

Mumbai: Claiming that Maharashtra government was the first to grant minority status to Jain community, state Minority Development Minister Arif Naseem Khan has said that they would lobby with the Centre for a similar status to Jains at the national level.

"It is important for the Jain community to get minority community status at the national level," Khan said during a programme here yesterday.

He pointed out that the representation of Jain community in the state administration was very minimal.

"People from the Jain community should take advantage of the pre-recruitment training programmes for IAS and IPS, undertaken by the state Minorities Department," Khan said.

If people from this community participate in these programmes, it will help them come into the mainstream, he added.

"Maharashtra government is totally committed for the development of Jain community in educational and social fields. The state government will make every effort to bring Jain community into the mainstream," Khan added.

Minority status for Jain educational institutes

TOI

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government will grant minority status to Jain educational institutes if they apply for it, said state minorities minister Naseem Khan.

Khan was addressing a camp organised by the Jain community on minority status at the Mahapragya Public School, Kalbadevi. He said the Maharashtra government was the first to grant the community the minority status and would lobby with the Centre to give a similar status to the Jains at the national level.

He said the community must encourage its youth to take up jobs with the government so that it gets integrated into the main stream, adding that the government was already conducting preparatory exams for the IAS, IPS and the MPSC of which the community must take advantage. He added that several students in the community were already taking benefit of the scholarship programme while schools had applied for funds to improve basic infrastructure.

Jain Minority Issue: Points to be Considered

 -Mahavir Sanglikar

Jain activists working on Jain minority issue should think on following points:

National Minority Status

Getting national minority status is a must thing to get all the benefits offered by Central Government to the religious minority communities. At present, we get the benefits offered by state Governments only, that too only for the community members of the states which have declared Jains as a religious minority.

Remember that minority status has nothing to do with Separate Religious Identity, but it is for upliftment of followers of minority religions, and to safeguard their interests. Minority status issue is about Jain Community, not about Jain religion. Also remember that National Minority Status is our constitutional right.  

Minority Status in States

If we get national minority status, we will get minority status in all the states and territories of India. This means that we will get the status automatically in the states where we yet have not gotten it.  However, as National Minority Status for Jains is a pending issue, we should try our best to get minority status in maximum number of states. This will help us to get National Minority Status, as well as to get benefits offered by state Governments to minority communities.

National Minority benefits in States

As we yet are not considered as religious minority on national level, we do not get any benefits offered by Central Government. We should demand for Central Government benefits to Jain community in the states, where we come under religious minority status.

Minority Certificate

Jain students and other young Jains are facing problems while proving their religious identity to get state Government benefits. We should demand for issue of Jain Minority Certificates from related State Governments. Recently, Uttar Pradesh Government has started to issue such certificates.

Divided We Fall

The Jain activists working on this issue are scattered, many of them have sectarian spirit and they avoid to co-operate and co-ordinate with each other on this issue. We should remember that the minority status is for entire Jain community and it has nothing to do with sects, i.e. Digambars or Shwetambars. If we do not work together, be sure to get setbacks in this mission.

In fact we need to establish two co-ordination committees to handle Minority Issue. First committee of all Jains working on this issue. Second of Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs who are facing the same problems. Further, we should Co-ordinate with the activists from other religious minority communities like Muslims and Christians.

OBCs & STs in Jains

A big number of Jain castes come under Other Backward Castes (OBC). Minority Status and OBC Status are two different things. While minority status is for all Jains, OBC status is only for those who belong to the Other Backward Castes. The same thing is about Tribal Jains. They come under ST (Scheduled Tribe). Another fact is that If People belonging to Schedule Castes (To whom we know as Dalits) become Jains, they get OBC status.

Jain Law

At present, Hindu law is applied to Jains. We should demand for Jain Law for Jains. Sikhs and Buddhists have already demanded for separate laws for them. Take it seriously, or we will have to face problems like we are facing in minority issue right now.

Also read: States where Jains are declared as Religious Minor...

States where Jains are declared as Religious Minority

List of States where Jains have been declared as Religious Minority Community:

1.      Maharshtra

2.      Karnataka

3.      Madhya Pradesh

4.      Rajasthan*

5.      Uttar Pradesh

6.      Chhattis Garh

7.      Jhar Khand

8.      Delhi

9.      Uttaranchal

10.  West Bengal

11.  Andhra Pradesh

12.  Haryana

13.  Punjab

14.  Himachal Pradesh

Please note that 84% of total Jains in India reside in the 14 states listed above.
* There are some problems in Rajasthan in applying the status

Pending Consideration

Following states yet have not given Minority Status to Jains even after continuous demand by Jain community:

1.      Tamil Nadu

2.      Gujarat

3.      Kerala

4.      Assam

5.      Jammu and Kashmir

6.      Bihar

7.      Goa

8.      Orissa

States and Territories where Jains are Micro-Minority

Following States have a very less population of Jains when compared to all above states, so there is no demand from Jain community for Minority Status.

1.      Sikkim

2.      Manipur

3.      Naga Land

4.      Arunachal Pradesh

5.      Pondicherry

6.      Andaman & Nikobar

7.      Meghalaya

8.      Mizoram

9.      Tripura

 Also Read: Jain Minority Issue: Points to be Considered

Andhra Pradesh: Jains Get Minority Status

March 8: The state government declared on Monday that along with Muslims and Christians, Jains too will be considered as religious minorities in the state hereafter.

This means that the Jains will have privileges like running educational institutions etc. for their community. As per the 2001 census, there are around 41,486 Jains in the state out of a total population of 7.6 crore which amounts to around 0.1 per cent.

The minorities welfare department issued the orders on Tuesday declaring the Jain community as a religious minority in the state following a representation from the Shri Bharatvarshiya Digamber Jain (DS) Mahasabha. It was stated in the representation that as per Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, Jains can be declared as a minority based on religion and language. Reacting to this in 2007, the then minority affairs minister, Mr A.R. Antulay, had written to the former CM, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, informing him that a religious community, which was less than 0.5 per cent of the population, would definitely fall under the minority category and had to be notified by the state government as a religious minority.

In July, 2010, the minority affairs ministry had confirmed that for the purpose of determining minority, the unit taken into consideration should be the state and not the country.

Six Jain women arrested for clash

AHMEDABAD: Shahibaug police station officials on Sunday arrested six women in connection with a group clash that took place at Girdharnagar Jain Upashray on Saturday afternoon. Senior police officials also held a meeting with the community leaders to prevent any further trouble on Sunday afternoon.

According to Shahibaug police station officials, the women from two sects - Ek-Tithi and Be-Tithi - of Shahibaug Upashray fought over the possession of the upashray. In the last fifteen days, the premises saw clash of ideology. The fight reached its pinnacle when sadhvis also joined in on Saturday.

"We have arrested six women in connection with the fight and vandalism of the ground floor of premises on Sunday after the investigation. They belong to both the sects as per the cross-complaints filed. We have also deployed police at the spot to prevent any further clashes," said VA Rehvar, inspector of Shahibaug police station.

Amit Vishwakarma, deputy commissioner of police, Zone IV, held a meeting with leaders of both the sects. "We asked them to take advice of the religious leaders in the matter and resolve the issue as per their guidelines," said Vishwakarma.

Missing Jain Nun Found

AHMEDABAD: When Kiran Pandya got his sister's call from Mehsana, he could not believe his ears. Pandya, who had stormed the Jain fraternity in the city along with police, was shocked to know that his beloved sister, who had taken to Jainism and got diksha at the age of 9, shunned monk's life to marry to a youth from the community.

According to sources, Pandya was in the city for last three days, searching for his missing' sister. Talking to TOI on Tuesday, Pandya had raised questions about the safety and whereabouts of Mahasatiji Ojasvinibai, 28. "In the wake of strange incidents happening with sadhus and sadhvis of Jainism, I fear that she might have been abducted."

However, the twist came on Wednesday when she contacted him to reveal her location. "She had left a note while leaving the upashraya in Vasna informing that she was shunning monk's life by her will and was safe. This information was kept under wraps to protect the prestige of the institution. But, when allegations were levelled against us, we had to disclose the truth," said a member of Jain community.

The Jain sangh members told TOI that Ojasvinibai met Ashish Bhavsar, a youth from Viramgam while on Chaturmaas (four months of stay at one place for monks) at Mehsana. It was mutual attraction, according to duo, who decided to get married. As per plan, she left the upashraya and world of religion behind and donned the new identity of Archana.

The duo then went to Bali in Rajasthan for a civil marriage in front of marriage registrar.

The news did not go down well with her brother. "When Pandya went to Mehsana, he got enraged and attacked Bhavsar and alleged him of influencing to take a wrong decision. The matter went out of control and nearby police personnel had to rush to the spot. When police came to know that it was a matter of two adults having married with consent, they let them go and warned Pandya," said a police official.

Pramukhchand Shah, president of Dariapuri Sthanakvaasi Jain Sangh, told TOI that earlier sadhviji was warned of unacceptable practices' such as using mobile phone. "However, the restrictions were termed as harsh behaviour by her brothers. She had also given us a written apology. We just want to say that she has no grudge against the treatment she got or her life as a monk till she was in the city," he said.

Prominent Jains to be listed | Suggest Persons

Prominent Jains to be listed Suggest Persons

Jain Friends, the renowned social organization is going to publish short biographies of major Jain personalities. The list includes Jains from various fields of life who have done some extra ordinary work.

The biographies of selected Jains will be published on a specially created website. The website will be search engine friendly and will be listed in all major search engines including Google, Yahoo and MSN. Anybody from any corner of the world will find information, photographs and contact details of any person listed on the website through search engines.

Although we have collected lot of information, we herewith request you to suggest some Jain persons for inclusion. There is no restriction in which fields they are working, the only eligibility is that they are doing or have done some great or different work.

Required details:

Name of the person
Date of Birth and Birth Place
Educational Qualification (Please write in which school and university he/she studied)
Family Background
Occupation
Achievements in detail
Awards won
Institutions and organizations in which he/ she is an office-bearer
Hobbies and Interests
Two different close up photographs
Full Contact Details (Complete Postal Address with PIN/ ZIP code; Phone, Cell Phone and Fax Numbers, Email address, Website Name and URL if any)

Please write us at: jainway@gmail.com

If you want to send any printed material, please send it to: (NO Curriers, only by Registered/ Speed Post or in person)

Jain Friends (PJ)
Post Box No. 58
Jagannath Complex, 199 Mumbai-Pune Rd
Chinchwad East, Pune 411019
MH India

Please feel free to ask any question regarding this project.

Sincerely Yours,

-Mahavir Sanglikar
Cell Phones: 91 927 309 3122, 91 962 372 5249

Please note:
Some of the categories under which the Prominent Jains will be listed: (This is not complete list. Each category has many subcategories)

Education: Vice-Chancellors, Professors, Speakers
Animal Rights and Vegetarianism
Artists:


Entertainment: Actors and actresses, Music Composers, Musicians, Directors, Producers, Singers, Dancers, Mimicry artists, Magicians, Stage Performers etc.
Social Activities: Social Workers, Social Organizers, Disaster Managers,
Government and Politics: Ministers, Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Councils and Assemblies
Administration: IAS, IPS and other Government Officers
Science and Technology: Scientists and Researchers
Literature: Writers, Poets, Novelists
Media: Publishers, Editors, TV Journalists, Reporters
Jainism: Researchers, Indologists,
Sports: Sportspersons
Business and Industry: Business Persons, Industrialists, Entrepreneurs, CEOs
Any person who appears in media

Jains Congregate at Buena Park Temple

BY K.B.NAIR
BUENA PARK, CA - Over 2,000 delegates from all over the country, Canada and India converged on the holiday weekend for the 15th Biennial JAINA Convention held at the Jain Center in here from July 2 to 5. While the number appears to be large, in reality this figure actually represents a drop in attendance compared to the 5,000 attendees at previous conventions in recent years. The fall was due to the financial downturn the country is still reeling under. Officials speaking at the opening ceremony explained that these are the circumstances that prompted them to move the event from the Anaheim Convention Center to the Jain Center to conserve financial resources.

The change of venue did not in any way diminish the spirit of the event and the huge congregation gathered for four days of educational, religious, social and entertainment activities with a host of programs filling up the days. The theme of the convention was “Ecology – the Jain Way,” a subject most appropriate for the present times when the future of the planet itself is at enormous risk on account of rampant overuse of natural resources and excessive emissions. The three keynote speakers at the convention spoke on the Jain Way of Going Green – a concept which has been an integral component of the religion from the time of Lord Mahavira.

“ I stand before you as a Jain and not an American” said Dr Gary Francione, Distinguished Professor from Rutgers University in his keynote address at the opening ceremony on July 3 morning which was met with thunderous applause. What is needed today ,he proclaimed, is a change of heart, adherence to the tenets of Jainism and the practice of ahimsa . Carrying the concept still further he appealed to all Jains to consider giving up all dairy foods because he stated “ there is more suffering in a glass of milk than in a pound of steak,” with an explanation of the suffering endured by cows and calves when separated to produce milk and milk products commercially.

Speaking with occasional touches of humor on the serious subject “ Nurturing Nature Back to the Past,” Dr Jagdish Sheth, Professor at Emory University expounded on the urgent need to understand the dynamics of nature and nurturing it as against radical attempts to changing its processes for short term gains. He referred to Jainism as a “scientific” religion in that it recognizes nature in its principle of “ live and let live” and suggested that Jains should not hesitate to market its beliefs to make people aware of the need of cooperating with nature for the well being of the planet.

In his keynote address on July 4, Dr Dipak C Jain , Professor at Northwestern University provided valuable tips on how to exercise restraint on usage of valuable resources such as water and power in one’s day to day life. He spoke on how core Jain principles combined with proper faith, knowledge and conduct can serve as a valuable framework to cultivate enlightened leadership to address a range of global issues.

Participants to the convention started arriving by the afternoon of July 2 which started with pujas and ended with Raas Garba. The official program commenced the next morning with a colorful procession around the temple with ladies singing songs and dancing to the beat of a dhol. Several dignitaries also joined the march along with a few hundred attendees , many bearing bright standards with the name of the chapter they represented.

The business segments of the event started with the recital of the Namkar Mantra and the Manglacharan. The event received the blessing of Gurudev Chitrabhanu , the pioneering Jain monk who brought the Jain message to America. He said he was very happy to have been able to see his dream in the mid 1960s of the Jain dharma take root and establish itself in the USA come true.

Hamilton Brewart, the main sponsor with $51,000 lit the inaugural lamp.

Conveners Rashmi Shah, Dr.Nitin Shah and Lata Champsee, President of JAINA , Dilip Shah, Jain Center of California President Ashok Savla and Founder President of Jain Center, Southern California Mahendra Khandhar also spoke on the occasion.

The convention was loaded with several discourses and discussions moderated and led by prominent speakers and experts on a variety of subjects apart from 14 specific sessions on ecology and going green. Meetings were held concurrently , 4 at a time in both the Jain Center and the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fullerton.

Several competitive Jaina Awards were presented to individuals during the Convention , selected by a committee from nominations received from all over US and Canada. The prestigious Jaina Ratna Award went to Dr Sulekh Jain from Sugar Land , TX and the Jaina Recognition Awards for Adults were picked up by Amita Desai(Anaheim,CA), Narendra Jain(Torrance,CA), Rakesh Jain (Columbus,OH), Mayur Mehta ( Clarksville TN,) Kirit Shah ( Edison, NJ), Nilesh Shah(Clarksville,MD) Pravin Turakhia (Fremont,CA) Hamir Vadi(Mountainside NJ) and Rasik Vagadia( Foxboro,MA) . Corresponding youth awards were presented to Naman Jain ( Norwood,MA), Rajiv Jain (Odenton,MD) Pina Mehta (Tustin,CA), Parinda Shah (Schaumburg ,IL), and Shaneshi Shah ( Torrance,CA). The Jaina Presidential Awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the community were presented to Udai C Jain (Sugar Land . TX), the longest serving member of the JAINA Executive Committee and to Mahendra G Mehta( Mumbai, India) who established the Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust 2 decades ago with a vision to tackle problems of poverty in Mumbai.

The entertainment highlights included the world premiere of the play “ Siddha Hem” based on the life of Acharya Hemchendra Charya and a Bollywood show “ Black” presented by 10 blind performers. There were fun activities for children and adults of different age groups which comprised cruises, dancing, treasure hunts, movies, stand up comedies and a mega mela at the hotel with 10 stalls for games. One of the most popular features among the youth were the morning Masala Bhangra workouts conducted by the Sarina Jain. Numerous stalls were also set up on the premises of the Jain Center with vendors providing various products and services.

Education loan for Jains

Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) has launched a loan scheme to encourage Jain students to pursue higher studies.

Under the JITO Educational Loan Programme, the organization has joined hands with Oriental Bank of Commerce to provide loans up to Rs 20 lakh for international studies and up to Rs 10 lakh for higher education in India. For all students who avail loans of up to Rs 1 lakh, JITO will contribute a significant portion of the interest amount. JITO president Hemant Shah said loans worth Rs 25 crore will be disbursed this year. For more details, log on to www.jainsamachar.blogspot.com/