An unseemly and unprecedented divide has sprung up in cosmopolitan Mumbai, India's commercial and entertainment capital, carrying with it communal overtones and linguistic differences that are dividing communities and sending warning signals of what can go wrong when principles of secularism are compromised and hatred is spread to divide communities for political mileage. The ‘them’ versus ‘us’ divide that has become the staple of majoritarian national politics may have targeted a particular group or community, but the hate that feeds the divisions can fan fires in places that will surprise and shock.

This time, the divide has taken the form of an ugly dispute between some members of the Jain community and groups of local Mumbai residents who have begun complaining about some of the Jain customs and practices that violate the sanctity of public spaces and bring aspects of the Jain religion on the roads, literally. The Jain community has been triggered so much by the developments that it has surprisingly - and rather quickly - offered an uncannily aggressive view of itself, shaking the long held and much-admired principled position of Jains on strict adherence to non-violence. It is known that Mahatma Gandhi’s globally acclaimed philosophy of non-violence and satyagraha was inspired by the Jain ideals of extreme and rigorous non-violence.

Brewing Communal Discord

The controversy started when a few Jain followers painted a white stripe in the precincts of a Mumbai residential colony to mark out a pathway on which the Jain munis (spiritual leaders) could walk and therefore be encouraged to visit the building. Moss or algae will not grow on a strip oil-painted in white, thus enabling the Jain sadhus and sadhvis to walk without harming life and keeping to their strict vows of non-violence. The white band also keeps the pathway cooler for Jain ascetics who usually walk barefoot. The trouble is the building compound was marked without asking other non-Jain members, who are up in arms at this affront and have demanded that this unilateralism by the Jains in the housing society must not stand. One protestor asked if it would be okay for him to paint saffron stripes and for another community to paint the compound in green, thus presenting the dispute in stark terms that highlight just how much of anger and bitterness has seeped into relations that were until recently thought to be harmonious.

The controversy of painted white stripes began in the northeastern suburbs (Ghatkopar) and quickly spread to neighbourhoods in north central and south Mumbai with a host of other complaints added on against the Jains and their practices. The dispute has turned more heated as the Jain community has not quite given in or even apologised. In fact, videos have shown a Jain senior dressed in traditional white robes rudely asking the local Maharashtrian protestors to keep their voices down as they speak. In an even uglier turn, a purportedly pro-Hindutva monk who is a Jain asked the protestors to fight other prominent minorities rather than Jains, injecting new communal hatred and targeting other minority groups who are not involved in this dispute at all. That disturbing video by the monk ended with a warning to local protestors: ‘hum ne choodiyan nahi pehni.’ (loosely meaning, ‘we can fight back’) that only served to put on display the violence deep inside the non-violence professed by the monk in question.

It is worth noting that the dispute began with a simple ask: any changes in common areas of residential colonies must follow due process, as is indeed the norm of democratic societal functioning. In that, the local voices of protestors are making a fair point. The initial aggressive response of the Jain community has however challenged the foundational tenets of Jainism, which hold that ahimsa is the highest religion and the supreme duty (Ahimsa Paramo Dharma). The great insight of Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was that reality is “many sided”, and that it is realised in a multiplicity of ways that we cannot always reconcile, according to the scholar Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad.

An Influential Community

The Jains are a tiny but very influential community, many of them speaking Gujarati or Marwari and a large percentage working in powerful and successful businesses. A Pew survey in 2021 reported that seven-in-ten Jains say they feel closest to the BJP, while just 8% say they feel closest to the Indian National Congress. Pew said Jains are more likely than other religious communities in India, including Hindus, to feel political affinity with the BJP. That highlights another source of friction seen in Mumbai, based on language and political affiliation. 

Protests Against Gujarati Dominance

Local opposition has been increasingly vociferous against groups from the neighbouring state of Gujarat being awarded key projects in Mumbai. The latest example of this is the growing opposition to a mega redevelopment project awarded to the Adani Group in the western suburbs. After securing the redevelopment of the Dharavi area (some 625 acres), followed by Bandra Reclamation (about 24 acres), the group has now won the contract for the Motilal Nagar project in Goregaon in the western suburbs, spread across some 143 acres, according to reports.

Adding to the pressure is another type of discord with objections to shop names displayed in Gujarati, opening a faultline that shows how large capital, local area dissonance and political resentment can spiral out of control. The perceived push from a political leadership that has roots in Gujarat, the split in the locally rooted Shiv Sena that was engineered, the resentment it brewed among ordinary citizens and the history of Maharashtra -- which was born on May 1, 1960 after a bitter struggle that split the erstwhile Bombay State into two distinct linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat -- are all complex and contributory factors to the evolving political unrest in Mumbai. 

Broadly, it is clear that anything which breaks social cohesion, encourages crony capitalism or exploits communal divides builds a tinderbox that can burn the entire house down. The answer lies, quite simply, in turning back to the path of non-violence, and standing with Mahatma Gandhi and his principles of satyagraha. This is a path that the nation and the community of Jains will need to re-learn.

(The writer is a journalist and faculty member at SPJIMR, Mumbai. Views expressed are personal. By special arrangement with The Billion Press)