Tarun Sagar passes away: When the Jain monk slammed 'rapist babas'

Influential Jain Muni Tarun Sagar passed away early on Saturday morning. He was 51. He breathed his last at 3 AM at Radhapuri Jain Temple in Krishna Nagar of east Delhi after a prolonged battle with jaundice. He had stopped his treatment and opted for Santhara - the Jain ritual of fasting to death. He enjoyed a massive fan following even outside the Jain community and was known for his nationalist views. 

Tarun Sagar was greatly respected by various politicians including PM Modi, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje.

 He had hit headlines in 2016 when he had been invited to the deliver a lecture at the Haryana Assembly.

On asked about his massive fan following, he had once told Zee Hindustan: " I am not acceptable every where. But I believe there are a large number of people who have affection for me. In my sermons, I don’t talk about any religion, any community, I talk only about life and everyone loves to live. That is the reason people live me. These days, people have scarcity of two elements: smile on face and happiness in life. I speak in both these elements and people not only listen to it but also choose it."

On becoming a muni, he had told Zee Hindustan in an exclusive conversation: “ I took sanyas at a tender age of 13...In the history of 2000 years, this is for the first time anyone has taken deeksha at such a young age. I think this is all because of resolves of previous birth that I took the course of Lord Mahavir.”

He had also hit out against ‘fake fabas’ and said on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh’s arrest: "I had said that rapist babas are dangerous than Bin Laden...they are murdering religious beliefs... Akhada has released list of 14 fake babas...I say there are not 14 but 14000 fake babas...after exploring only we can get to know what kind of mischiefs are going on in the name of religion. There is no code of conduct for these babas and that is why such accidents are happening.”

He had added: “Saints like us have completely code of behaviour and only by discharging clothes one can’t become Digambar saint. When a saint undergoes commitment, he has to vow 28 commitments. There has to code of behaviour then only this organisation can be saved.”