JAMSHEDPUR: A tribal organisation Tuesday launched the country-wide 'Marang Buru Bachao Bharat Yatra' (Save Parasnath Hill) to free it from the alleged "clutches" of the Jain community.
The month-long march by Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan (ASA) seeks to garner support from across the country to "free" Parasnath Hill or 'Marang Buru'.
ASA president Salkhan Murmu said here that its members staged demonstrations in front of 50 tribal-dominated district collectorates in Assam, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand simultaneously to press for its demand.
The ASA activists waved placards and staged dharnas during the day at Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa in Assam, Malda, Purulia and Bankura in West Bengal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore in Odisha, Kishanganj, Katihar and Purnea in Bihar and Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Dumka in Jharkhand, he said.
The tribals consider Parasnath Hill as the holiest 'Jeherthan' (place of worship).
Murmu, a former MP who led the dharna here during the day, said that meetings will be organised in other tribal pockets of the country by ASA to mobilise support for its demand.
The Association will also submit a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu through district magistrates of all 50 districts in the five states in support of its demand before the Yatra ends in the last week of February.
Murmu had earlier written to the president and appealed to her to restore the sanctity of the Parasnath Hill and hand it over to the tribals.
He accused the Jharkhand government for handing over Marang Buru to the Jain community.
"The government has betrayed the adivasi community. Marang Buru is an identity of the tribals who believe that it protects them," Murmu said.
The Jain community is protesting against the Jharkhand government's decision to turn the hill, which it considers among its holiest places, into a tourist destination.
The Shri Sammed Shikharji in Parasnath hill in Jharkhand's Giridih district, about 160 km from Ranchi, is among the holiest places of the Jains, including both Digambara and Shwetambar sects.
Twenty of the 24 Jain tirthankaras attained 'moksha' (salvation) on these hills.
Murmu said Parasnath Hill to be as significant for the devout tribals as is Ayodhya Ram Mandir for Hindus, Mecca and Medina for Muslims, Vatican city for Christians and the Golden Temple for Sikhs.
ASA, he said, will also raise the issue of inclusion of 'Sarna' religion in the census and its opposition to government's move to include the Kurmi caste in the category of schedule tribes.
ASA will also hold a Marang Buru-Sarna Mahadharna on February 11 and Rashtrya Adivasi Ekta Mahasabha on February 14 in Ranchi.
The Jain community across the country is demanding the scrapping of a 2019 Jharkhand government notification designating Parasnath Hills as a tourist place.
It fears that it will otherwise lead to an influx of tourists who may consume non-vegetarian food and liquor at their holy site.
While the Centre stayed the Jharkhand government's move to promote tourism at the Parasnath Hill after protests by Jains, tribals claimed the land and asked for it to be freed.
The Santhal tribe has a sizeable population in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal and are nature worshippers.