The Congress on Thursday criticised the Narendra Modi government for disrespecting the religious sentiments of the Jain community, wondering if this was part of a larger majoritarian conspiracy to undermine the existence of a miniscule minority.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted: “The BJP is insulting the religious sentiments of Jain community by declaring the sacred hills of Sammed Shikharji, Shatrunjaya and Girnar tourist spots. We ask the Modi Government to protect the sanctity of Jain religious places. Congress party respects all religions”.

The Centre on Thursday evening stayed its 2019 notification allowing tourist activities on the hill where the Sammed Shikharji is located after a Jain community delegation met environment minister Bhupendra Yadav.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren had also written to the Centre seeking a review of the notification. The Congress held a news conference saying the BJP wanted to “commercialise” the pilgrimage centres of Jainism in the country without caring for the religious sentiment of the minority community.

Responding to protests by the community, the party demanded that the notification on Sammed Shikharji issued by the Centre on the basis of a decision taken by the previous Raghubar Das government in Jharkhand be withdrawn immediately.

Congress leader and former Union minister Pradeep Jain Aditya and party spokesperson Pawan Khera said the BJP wants to “commercialise” the pilgrimage centres of Jain religion like Sammed Shikharji, Palitana’s Shatrunjaya hills (in Gujarat), Mount Girnar (also in Gujarat) and make them a medium to fill the state coffers.

Pradeep Jain said: “Today the BJP-RSS has betrayed the Jain community which has contributed immensely to the country’s growth and adopted the policy of non-violence, but the ruling dispensation has deeply hurt their sentiments. People of Jain society from all over the country are agitated as lakhs of people from the community are holding peaceful agitations in many cities. The previous BJP government of Jharkhand and Modi government jointly declared Giridih, the ‘Nirvana Bhoomi’ (salvation site) of 20 Jain Tirthankaras and the most important pilgrimage centres of Jainism — Sammed Shikharji and ‘Parasnath hill’ — as eco-sensitive zone and decided to turn it into a tourist destination.”

He also said that in Gujarat, the BJP was attempting to pollute the sanctity of two pilgrimage sites of the Jain community.

“The first site is the Palitana’s Shatrunjaya hills near Bhavnagar, where RSSVHP members have been persistently demanding change of management of 865 Jain temples and pilgrimage centres, which are over 900 years old. This site is considered to be the most sacred pilgrimage centre of the Shvetambara Jain community.”

He added: “The reason for the agony of the Jain community in Palitana is also the illegal commercialization going on under the patronage of the BJP government of Gujarat and illegal mining by mafia on the Shatrunjaya hills there.”

He said the second place — the Girnar mountains near Junagadh — is considered sacred for the Jain community but the BJP government has said it will be made a tourist destination.