The World Jain Organisation has written to the union home ministry and National Commission for Minorities to provide safe and secure trails systems for pedestrians after the tragic death of a Jain sadhvi in a road accident in Gujarat on February 13.
The organisation said they were deeply saddened by the death of Jain sadhvi Aryika Shrutmati and a fellow Jain devotee in a road accident near Dahod. They said that deaths of Jain sadhus and sadhvi in road accidents has become a regular occurrence as the ascetics travel all over the country by foot. 'They are mandated not to stay at one place permanently, and travel for a months in a year. Due to the increased number of vehicles, and thereby increased number of distracted drivers, walking along the side of the road is becoming increasingly dangerous. The Jain community all over the world is worried about the safety and security of our sadhus and sadhvis', the World Jain Organisation said.
Vijay Jain, president of Vishwa Jain Sangathan Canada, said that earlier the roads between cities were shared by pedestrians and animal-drawn vehicles. Walking on these roads were safe as there were no motorised vehicles then. However, as the world has changed, and these roads are now concerted to highways used by motorised vehicles, there are now no safe roads left for pedestrians.
In the letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, Home Minister, Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, and chairperson, National Commission For Minorities, Iqpal Singh Lalpura, the Jains have asked for protection for the sadhus and sadhvis. Providing them with the means to practice their religious duties such as travel is the duty of the government of India, they said.
'We request the Government of India to build trails systems across the country to provide a safe and secure mechanism of travel for pedestrians. Such trails should be exclusively for pedestrians and no motorised vehicles should be allowed there. Such trails system should provide a mechanism of travel for pedestrians like Jain sadhu, sadhvis free from fear of distracted drivers and high speed motorised vehicles, the group said.
