VIJAYAWADA: Jain community organised a protest on Thursday from Thummalapalli Kala Kshetram to Collector’s office in Vijayawada. The Jain community from all over the country is protesting in various places against the Jharkhand State government’s decision to declare ‘Sammed Shikharji’ as a tourist place.
On Thursday, the protest has taken place throughout Andhra Pradesh. As many as 2,500 Jain families from Vijayawada took part in the protest. The president of the Jain temple in Vijayawada, Raju Solanki said, “We all visit that place with barefoot as it is a very holy place for us. We Jains are a minority community of the country and this might be the reason why the government is not considering us and forcefully making our holy land as a tourist spot.’’
He said that Sammed Shikharji is like Tirumala for Hindus. We want the government to consider our demand and stop making Sammed Shikharji as a tourist spot, he added.