Protests in NY against Kanchi seer’s arrest

Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: www.expressindia.com

Expressing "outrage" over the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Sarswathi, several Hindu religious and political organisations and the Sikh Sangat of America held a demonstration near the Indian consulate in New York demanding the seer's release.

"Hindus believe that the arrest of the Sankaracharya is motivated by a sinister design to demoralise them in general and to frighten and terrorise seers into submission," the demonstrators told reporters on Tuesday during the two-hour protest.

The demonstration was led by Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America and 'friends of BJP'. In a memorandum addressed to consul general Pramathesh Rath, the demonstrators said Hindus in America are "deeply disturbed and shocked" at the "disrespectful and legally suspect" manner in which Jayendra Saraswathi was summarily arrested and remanded to prison.

Swamiji's arrest, it said, is symptomatic of a "multi-pronged attack" soon to spread against potentially all Hindu leaders espousing the cause of Hindutva.

"This is a sinister attempt to frighten and terrorise other Hindu pontiffs into submission," it added.

The manner in which the Tamil Nadu police and the public prosecutor have tried to portray the Sankaracharya as a "professional killer" smacks of political partisanship. It said.