A large number of my Jain friends always insisted that I should serve them a non-vegetarian meal whether it is at home or on tour.
“Well, you must be having non-veg right from morning to night?” the mouth watering lips always put out this stereotype dialogues each time we met.
And being Christian, you must be enjoying your drinks daily – especially during Good Fridays and Christmas – it must be carnival atmosphere, the words indicated as though they were willing to convert.
And there are some more things that these souls believe we do as a Christian. First and the foremost is that all the women carry names such as Lilly, Julie etc (made famous by villain Ajit) and all of them wears mini skirts and starts addressing any one with “Hey man”.
The only time that I get relief from the onslaught of serving non-vegetarian food is during Paryushan. During Paryushan, which falls in August-September, the Jains observe fast for eight days for self-purification and self-realisation.
And during this week, to please a miniscule minority, each and every Gujarati has to observe fast.
It is a big relief that the Gujarat High Court has held practice of closure of slaughter houses in Gujarat during the Jain festival of ‘Paryushan’ every year is unconstitutional, thanks to a petition by Lok Adhikar Sangh which argued that it interfered with other people’s right to trade, earn a livelihood and personal liberty.
The high court has ruled that ‘‘closing down a business for satisfying the religious sentiments of a particular community cannot be said to be in public interest.’’
A division bench of G S Singhvi and Anant S Dave, which passed the judgement, has held that slaughtering of animals was an occupation, guaranteed under the Constitution, and did not fall under the category of ‘‘reasonable restrictions’’ which could be imposed on the fundamental rights of citizens.
The practice, since 1993, is defended by the government in the name of religious sentiments of the Jains.
Gujarati society is made up of many paradoxes. The first and the foremost is consuming non-vegetarian food. Then comes liquor and then comes education and caste system.
It is a known fact that almost all the males in Gujarat enjoy chicken, mutton and even beef in various forms available. Yet Gujarat is known to be a vegetarian society. Gujarat has the longest coastline in India and yet no sea food is available. A well kept secret is consumption of alcohol. Bottles that makes its way to the chute and from there to the kabadiwala bears some of the best brands of liquors – all bought at premiums from bootleggers. Yet Gujarat is a dry state. A state where you remain dry as long as you don’t have a contact with a bootlegger. Gujarat is one of the most industrious states in India. It has some of the best entrepreneurship skills and the best business school in India. And yet the level of English is so poor.
Though the High Court order is not going to stand the challenge Jains are planning in the Supreme Court, it has created some sort of an eye opener that co-existance is the key.
To continue
Unedited Version
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