Rajasthan Speaker demands apology from Ajmer cleric for his remark on Jain saints

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Jaipur, May 9 (IANS) Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani on Thursday condemned the statement made by Syed Sarwar Chishti, the Secretary of Anjuman Committee, an organisation of Khadims in Ajmer Sharif Dargah, against Jain saints and demanded an apology from him.

He said that "Sarwar Chishti has insulted the Indian Sanatan culture by commenting on the Jain saints and hence should apologise".

The Speaker added: "Sarwar Chishti has commented on Jain saints calling them "those without clothes". Asceticism and ascetics have the highest place in Indian Sanatan culture. Jain saints' pure conduct is a symbol of purity and chastity in society. The statement made by Anjuman Committee Secretary Syed Sarwar Chishti against Jain saints is "extremely disgusting, unfortunate, and indicative of their distorted mentality". The comment he has made regarding the clothes of Jain saints is an insult to the entire Jain society and Sanatan culture."

Sarwar Chishti should apologise to the entire Sanatan culture and the Jain community, he added.

A group of Jain monks and several leaders of the Visva Hindu Parishad on Tuesday visited 'Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra', an ASI-protected mosque in Rajasthan's Ajmer, and claimed that originally a Sanskrit school and a Jain temple existed there.

The Speaker said: "'Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra' has always been in the collective memory of people as a Sanskrit school. People of Ajmer know what importance it had in the form of a centre of education during ancient times in the Sanatan culture. How it was captured over time and how it became a "shed two-and-a-half days" is a matter of research. A letter will be written to the Archaeological Survey of India to know the truth about this place."

--IANS

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