MP: 3-year-old girl suffering from brain tumour dies after 'Santhara' ritual in Jainism
Indore, May 4 (PTI): A three-year-old girl suffering from brain tumour died after her parents initiated her into the Jain religious practice of fasting unto death as advised by a spiritual leader in Madhya Pradesh's Indore.
The girl, Viyana Jain, who was their only child, breathed her last on March 21, her parents said.
Santhara, also known as Sallekhana, is a Jain ritual of voluntarily fasting unto death. As per this practice, a person gradually reduces his or her intake of food and water until death as a means of achieving spiritual purification and detachment from the world.
According to her parents, the Golden Book of World Records has taken note and issued a certificate in the name of Viyana for being "the youngest person in the world to vow the Jain ritual Santhara".
Her parents, who work as Information Technology (IT) professionals, say that they decided to make their daughter take the Santhara vow after being advised by a Jain muni (monk).
Talking to PTI on Saturday, Piyush Jain, the girl's father, said, "My daughter was diagnosed with brain tumour in January this year. She underwent a surgery, following which her health improved. But in March, her condition deteriorated and she started facing difficulty in consuming food and drinking."
On the night of March 21, he took his seriously ill daughter along with his family members to Jain monk Rajesh Muni Maharaj for darshan.
"Maharaj ji saw my daughter's condition and told us that the girl's end is near and she should be given the Santhara vow. This fast holds a lot of significance in Jainism. After thinking about it, we finally agreed to go for it," he said.
Jain said that his daughter died within a few minutes of the monk completing the religious rituals of Santhara.
He also said the Golden Book of World Records registered his daughter's name and issued a certificate of world record in which her name was mentioned as "the youngest person in the world to vow the Jain ritual Santhara".
Her mother Varsha Jain said, "I cannot describe how difficult the decision was to make my daughter take the Santhara vow. My daughter was suffering a lot due to the brain tumour. It was very painful for me to see her in this condition."
Remembering Viyana, her mother turned emotional and said, "I want my daughter to always be happy in her next birth."
In the religious terminology of the Jain community, Santhara is also called 'Sallekhana' and 'Samadhi Maran'. Under this ancient practice, a person gives up food, water and worldly things to embrace death when he or she feels that the end has come.
The debate over Santhara in legal and religious circles intensified in 2015 when the Rajasthan High Court declared the practice a punishable offence under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 309 (attempt to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the apex court, while hearing petitions filed by various religious bodies of the Jain community, stayed the Rajasthan High Court order.
Parents display a certificate recognising their three-year-old daughter, named Viyana Jain, as a world record holder for undertaking 'Santhara', the Jain ritual of fasting unto death, issued by the Golden Book of World Records, in Indore. Viyana Jain was suffering from a terminal brain tumor. (PTI Photo/Harshwardhan Prakash)
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
