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Santhara

Table of Content

What is Santhara? ....................................................................................................................................... 2

Why in news?................................................................................................................................................ 2

Issues with the Judgment ......................................................................................................................... 2

Santhara and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) .............................................................................................. 3

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1 What is Santhara?
Sallekhana or Santhara is the Jain practice of facing death voluntarily at the end of one's life. It is prescribed both
for the householder and ascetics. Sallekhana is allowed only when a person is suffering from incurable disease or
great disability or when a person is nearing his end. It is a highly respected practice among the members of the
Jain community.
Sallekhana is made up from two words sal (meaning 'properly') and lekhana, which means to thin out. Properly
thinning out of the passions and the body is 'Sallekhan'. According to Jain Agamas, sallekhan leads to ahims
(non-violence or non-injury), as person observing sallekhan subjugates the passions, which are the root cause
of hims (injury or violence)

2 Why in news?
Rajasthan High Court had recently in Nikhil Soni vs Union of India, criminalized the practice of Santhara under
IPC, terming it as suicide. The court gave 2 primary reasons for this verdict:

Guarantee of a right to life does not include within its ambit a promise of a right to die, and therefore,
that the practice of Santhara is not protected by Article 21.
Santhara, as a religious practice, is not an essential part of Jainism, and is hence not protected by Article
25 , which guarantees a persons right to religious freedom and conscience

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Thus, the court argued that the practice of Santhara needs to be stopped, and it is equivalent to suicide.

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Indian secularism envisages intervention of state in matters of religion, where general social welfare or
substantial civil liberties are at stake. But our Constitution doesnt permit the bestowal of any specific
discretion on the courts to tell us which of our beliefs and practices are essential to the following of a
religion
Art 25: guarantees to all persons an equal entitlement to freedom of conscience and right to profess,
practice and propagate religion- the right is subject only to public order, morality and health, and other
recognized Fundamental rights.
o These exceptions were included to ensure that the guarantee of religious freedom did not come in
the way of the state's ability to correct age old social inequalities.
o The intention of the constitution framers was not to allow organs of state any substantial latitude in
determining which religious practices deserve constitutional protection.
High Court has said: Article 25 protects only those exercises that are considered essential religious
practices- i.e. whether a particular exercise was indispensable to the proper practice of a religion
o This is done by seeing as to what practices are mentioned in the scriptures as very important- but
this is wrong morally as it amounts to a very particular form of moral judgment- a form of cultural
paternalism that is quite antithetical to a liberal democracy.
o Rather the questions which should be asked by the court are: whether any social inequities arise out
of the practice, of whether any other right of its practitioners are violated through Santhara, or
whether the rights of any other person are infracted when a person goes on fast
Santhara is embedded in deeply philosophical beliefs. The practice is premised on a foundational idea
that the act of fasting, as an exercise of bodily autonomy, allows a believer to attain a state of utter
transcendence.
But the right to die with dignity at the end of life is not to be confused or equated with the right to
die an unnatural death curtailing the natural span of life. Santhara is right of a dying man to also die
with dignity

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3 Issues with the Judgment

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High court terming Santhara as suicide is wrong on multiple levels, and by terming Santhara as suicide,
the ritual dignity of Santhara has been lost.
o It is a ritual act of purification, done in consultation with a guru, and follows the most detailed of
procedures. It cannot be an impulsive act or an egoistic one. It bears the imprimatur of theology and
the approval of society
o Santhara is a ritual of giving up the body in times of old age, famine or catastrophe or when an
individual feels the need to be closer to cosmic cycles.
o Hence, Santhara adds a dignity to dying, where death is in continuum with rebirth.
o Santhara is a multivalent term which cannot be reduced to the dreariness of suicide as closure or a
termination. Santhara, performed correctly, is ritual nonviolence.
Logic behind Santhara: any kind of eating or drinking would result in a disruption of and add a burden to
the ecology around them, so orthodox Jains consider zero- consumption i.e. starvation unto death- to be
the high point among the traditions of austerity and self-denial, and therefore the truest real world act
of ahimsa or non-violence, the fundamental tenet of Jainism
Jain view the body as a prison of the human soul- the fulfillment of whose needs corresponds to the
accumulation of bad karma
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Difference between Santhara and Suicide:
o True, both acts culminate in the self-extinguishment of human life, but the motivations of the actors
are poles apart
o Whereas suicide is an act of extreme desperation fuelled by anguish and hopelessness, a Santhara
practitioner, relinquishing food and drink voluntarily, has arrived at that decision after calm
introspection, with an intent to cleanse oneself of karmic encumbrances and attain the highest state
of transcendental well-being
o Santhara, for him, is an act of spiritual purification premised on an exercise of individual autonomy.
Many people have pointed out to the coercive, aspirational aspects of the practice:
o Families whose reputations are at stake often push the person to go the path
o There is an aspirational aspect as families of the individual who wishes to observe Santhara get
respect and status, so they often tend to advertise the act.
o But the voluntariness aspect of Santhara is being forgotten here. Santhara is not imposed; it is a
voluntary decision by the person.
The court has held that extinguishing life, sacrificing it or effacing it cannot be considered as acts of
dignity. A right to die cannot be a part of a right to life.

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Implications of the verdict:

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The judgment by High court led to protest by Jain against the judgment. It has also led to the revival of debate
on Uniform civil code and its importance in India.

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Supreme Court lifted the stay on Santhara. The Supreme Court said that based on incorrect
observations on Jainism, the High Court had criminalized the philosophy and essential practice of
Sallekhana/Santhara, a fundamental component of the Jain principle of ahimsa (non-violence).
SC said the Jain scholars were not consulted by the HC before it criminalized the practice

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Present status:

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4 Santhara and Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

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What is a uniform civil code?

The term uniform civil code refers to the body of laws governing rights and duties pertaining to property and
personal matters like marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance etc.
What is the need for a uniform civil code?
Our Constitution has guaranteed that under Article 44, "The state shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a
uniform civil code throughout the territory of India".
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Also, the honorable Supreme Court and its eminent jurists have noted on multiple occasions the need for a civil
code applicable to all citizens (Shah Bano, Sarala Mugdal).
Also, the diversity of civil norms followed by different religious groups has many times sparked a debate
regarding their continuation. Eg. recent judgment on Santhara. A uniform civil code will put a rest to all such
cases, and will lead to a uniform set of civil laws for the entire population.
Arguments in favor of UCC:

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It will mean uniformity in personal laws. It will be a neutral law which will have nothing to do with
religion
True Secularism: In order to be completely secular, laws should have nothing to do with religion. The
true implementation of India's secularism would be made by enacting personal laws outside the purview
of religion. All Indians will truly be treated equally regardless of our religions.
To reduce the burden on the legal system: Different personal laws for different communities creates
unnecessary burden on the legal system. Bringing a Uniform Civil code would reduce that.
It will promote unity: Single personal law for all Indians would promote unity. It will also help in the
progress of India as a nation.
Better laws will be enacted: A lot of different personal laws which are grossly unjust, unfair,
discriminatory and downright unconstitutional are given protection under religious freedom. Most of
these laws do not help people. Uniform Civil code will bring about better laws and will promote a better
legal system.
It will help better the situation of women: Uniform Civil code is also a major step towards gender justice.
There will be uniform rules for women like Monogamy, womens right to maintenance or inheritance
It will help end vote bank politics: If all Indians have same laws governing them, then the politicians will
have nothing to offer to any community in exchange of their votes.
Every modern nation which has truly embraced 'Secularism' has a Uniform Civil Code.

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There is a wide spread feeling that uniform civil code is a way of imposing majority views on them, this is
due to lack of information and among the people about what exactly UCC is
Lack of political will due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue
Change in laws in favor of women like Hindu inheritance Act has neither brought about any change in
the percentage of property held by women nor in their status
Different religious communities have different personal laws which lead to politicization. Due to these,
UCC has become next to impossible.

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Arguments against UCC:

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The best way forward will be to involve the different religious groups into a discussion, and move towards a
uniform civil code with consensus. A piecemeal approach is required to achieve the goal of UCC.

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