New Delhi: After Haridwar, a town located on the banks of the holy Ganges considered the mecca of Hindus in India, a less-known pilgrim town of Palitana, in the western Indian state of Gujarat has taken eggs and meat off the table. Ruled by the Hindu right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Palitana municipal council last week moved a resolution to ban sale of eggs and non vegetarian food from the town, which is famous for its temples and deities worshiped by the Jain community, an influential minority religious community in India, most of whose members observe a strict vegetarian diet regime, which excludes even onions, garlic, ginger, etc. “When we met the Jain saints they requested us to enforce the ban in the area which is in the jurisdiction of the nagar palika (municipal council). The same was then cleared in the meeting on Friday,” head of the civic body Pravin Gadhvi told reporters in Palitana. In March this year, some of the Jain ascetics had even gone on fast and had threatened self immolation if the ban on non vegetarian food and eggs was not imposed in the holy town. “Palitana is an important pilgrim place for the Jain community. Jain monks were of the opinion that if Haridwar can have a law preventing sale of non-veg food and eggs, this pilgrim town can also follow suit. When saints threatened of self-immolation, the district administration and nagar palika (municipal council) assured to pass such a resolution,” he further said.
