Non-Violence and the Jain Fast to Death: Legal and Bioethical Debates (Claire Maes)

In 2015, the Rajasthan High Court equated the Jain practice of fasting to death (sallekhanā) with suicide and banned it — a ruling that sent shockwaves through the global Jain community. For Jains, sallekhanā is the highest expression of non-violence (ahiṃsā). This lecture examines what happens when competing worldviews enter the courtroom, and asks what this ancient practice can contribute to contemporary bioethical debates on death and dying.

Claire Maes is Assistant Professor of Indology at the University of Tübingen and is currently writing a monograph on the Jain practice of fasting to death (sallekhanā).

See also the announcement here