Acharya's arrest anti-Hindu: BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV.21. The Bharatiya Janata Party today continued its `dharna' to protest against the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, even as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) charged that the BJP leadership had once again shown its "true colours.''

Even as BJP's senior leader, Murli Manohar Joshi, sat in `dharna' at Patel Chowk here, he was joined by the party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, and general secretary, Arun Jaitley.

The BJP blamed the Centre as well as the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government in Tamil Nadu for the treatment meted out to the Acharya. The party described the action as anti-Hindu and said that it had hurt the sentiments of the majority community.

Tomorrow, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, will lead the `dharna.' The three-day relay `dharna' is part of the BJP's nationwide protest.

Dr. Joshi said the Centre could not absolve itself of responsibility in the arrest, a point emphasised also by the former deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptullah, who came to the venue of the `dharna.' While Dr. Joshi said traditional values were being destroyed in the name of secularism, Ms. Heptullah said the arrest had hurt the dignity and self-respect of all and it was not a matter that concerned Hindus alone. The Central and State Governments could not be absolved of responsibility for the arrest on the plea that he was sent into judicial and then police custody by the court. Dr. Joshi insisted that since the Sankaracharya was arrested at Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu police would have got permission from the Andhra police and the Government to arrest him.