House of Commons, London Wednesday 17th October 2018
The Jain All Party Parliamentary Group and One JAIN, UK celebrates its 16th Ahimsa Day at the House of Commons
The Institute of Jainology (IoJ) and the Jain All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) celebrated their annual Ahimsa Day today at the House of Commons, to mark the Jain tenet of Ahimsa (non-violence), 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Relief from Poverty was the theme for the evening.
Mr Gareth Thomas MP, Chair of the APPG and Mr Bob Blackman MP, Deputy Chair, both highlighted the progress that was being made to add Jainism to the UK Census and recognising Jains at National events by inviting them. Mr Blackman also talked about wanting to initiate a debate in the House to how much Jains have contributed national economy and the local community. He also commented that it will be possible to register as a Jain during the national census digitally but the Jain entry on the hard copy still remains to be followed up
Mr Nemu Chandaria, Chairman of the IoJ, welcomed the guests and thanked Lord Bates, Minister of State for International Development for stepping in at a short notice for Lord Bourne. He also welcomed the Jain members from the Armed Forces present in the audience. He referred to the OneJAIN awards to be presented at the House of Commons in 2019. He requested all Jain leaders present to ensure that as wide a publicity as possible was given to these awards to encourage members to submit nominations.
Mr Mahesh Gosrani, Institute’s Director read out the citation for this year’s Ahimsa Award winner Shree Shantilal Muttha. He described Mr Muttha’s endeavours in the field of education, relief of poverty and disaster relief. He highlighted the several awards already given to Shree Muttha by various State bodies and NGOs. Citation for the Awardee Shree S Muttha
Lord Bates along with Mr Nemu Chandaria then presented the award to Shree Shantilal Muttha.
Mr Muttha in his acceptance address said how humbled he felt to be receiving an award in the House of Commons. Having started from very humble beginnings he had managed to amass a substantial fortune by the age of 31. He felt that the time had come for him to use his time and assets to make a difference to his country. He had studied the primary education system and wanted to make it a value based education which would be learning rather than teaching.
He cited the high incidence of suicide rates within the farming community due to frequent famines and constantly occurring draughts. It was his plan to make at least 5000 villages draught free by developing efficient water storage systems.
There were several speakers at the event. Notable amongst them were:
Lord Bates standing in for Lord Bourne did acknowledge his unfamiliarity with Jain faith. He conveyed the message from Lord Bourne that the representations for Jains to be invited to the Remembrance Day was successful.
Shaunaka Rishi Das, Director of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, spoke about the origins, development and history of the Caste system. He explained that the caste system was mentioned in Rig Veda. In Bhagwant Gita, Lord Krishna explains the four varna and the ashram based on individual skills. The original concept which is quite complex has been misunderstood. The system has become more wealth and reputation based rather than the original thoughts and applied more for selfish reasons to retain power and authority.
Shaunaka Rishi Das had participated in the discussions in the House and the proposals to pass the anti-caste legislation which has now been shelved. He added that had the proposed legislation had been passed, when taken to an extreme could have let a republican challenge the Royal family’s right to succession.
Kajal Sanghrajka, who was awarded the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to research immigrant entrepreneurship, wanted to change the negative narrative on immigration, as Kajal, as a second generation immigrant faced no hurdles in becoming an entrepreneurin the UK. Or to quote her own words ‘Nowhere more diverse and more inclusive than the UK’.
Anand Surana, Chairman, Jitopreneurs, spoke about the Jain International Trade Organisation’s strategy to build Global Jain Networks, following the successful Jain business conference in London last year.
The evening culminated with a brief meet and greet session where there was an opportunity to have a one to one with the award winner and his family and with some of the speakers.
The Hall had been filled to capacity, including parliamentarians, leaders and members of Jain and other Indian communities and of other faiths.
