The Centre on Thursday stayed all tourism activities on Parasnath Hill where the most sacred pilgrimage site of the Jains is located, prompting an attempt to give credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi although the erstwhile BJP government in Jharkhand had initiated the project that offended the community.

The Centre directed the Jharkhand government to immediately take all steps necessary to protect the hill’s sanctity, PTI reported from New Delhi.

The Union environment ministry sent an office memorandum to the state in this regard following directions from Prime Minister Modi, the news agency quoted sources as saying. The memo reached the state government on Thursday evening.

On Thursday afternoon, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who heads a JMM-led coalition government along with the Congress and others, had written to the Centre to cancel a Union government notification.

The Centre’s notification allowed tourism activities on the hill on which is situated the sacred Sammed Shikharji.

The Jains say that 20 of their 24 Tirthankars (saviours and spiritual teachers) had attained Mahanirvana (salvation) at Sammed Shikharji. Members of the Jain community have been protesting against the move to promote religious tourism on Parasnath Hill.

Soren’s letter said the Centre alone can change the notification, which was issued by it. Soren said the site should be protected by declaring it a place of religious significance.

In February 2019, when the state government sent to the Centre the proposal for tourism on the hills, the BJP was in power in Ranchi. BJP leader Raghubar Das was the chief minister. On August 2, 2019, the Union environment ministry notified an eco-sensitive zone around the Parasnath sanctuary and approved eco-tourism activities in pursuance of the Das government’s proposal.

The current government headed by Soren took over only in December 2019.

Soren said in the letter to the Centre that the new government formed the Parasnath Tourism Development Authority in 2021 to regulate commercial activities in such a way that the religious sentiments of the devotees are not hurt. However, the Jain community lodged petitions against the project, following which “no step has been taken so far by the Jharkhand government for the implementation of Clause 2.3 (VI) and Clause 3 (3) of the said notification (issued by the Union environment ministry”.

“Para 2.3 (VI) and Para 3(3)... mention eco-tourism including tourism, on which objections of the Jain community have been registered,” the chief minister’s letter to the Centre said. “The state government fully respects the sentiments of Jain followers and is always committed to keeping the sanctity of the place intact.

The Centre’s communication to the state government staying Clause 3 was made public in New Delhi after representatives of the Jain community met Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav.

Additional reporting from PTI