Markets closed as Jains protest on Rajasthan HC's order over Santhara

Nashik: All Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and most other markets in the district remained closed in protest of the Rajasthan HC order on ‘Santhara’ or voluntary starvation till death.

The Santhara is a revered form of Samadhi among the Jain community. The concerned person stops partaking food and water and dies. The Jains believe it leads to Moksha or freedom from births.

All Jain organizations staged morchas in the City and gave memorandums to the collector and police. The memorandum urged the government to file an appeal in the SC and to stay the Rajasthan HC order.

Prakash Dayma, an onion exporter, said that, Jains constitute nearly 40 percent of traders in all APMCs.