Bail, Jail ... A Fishy Trail?

From Sangh rhetoric to Congress funk - who said what.

Outlook Web Bureau

(updated on January 11, 2005)

"We welcome the decision of the court. A planned effort was being made to tarnish the reputation of the highly respected seer. We hope that the nefarious designs of the vested interests would be exposed in the coming days, The ruling parties at the Centre and the state are "silently supporting" such efforts."

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Vice President, BJP

"From the outset, we have maintained that these are baseless allegations and the seer should be given an opportunity to face the challenge .. {this is] baseless propaganda to tarnish the image and reputation of an ancient Hindu institution. We are with the math

Ram Madhav, Spokesman, RSS

"Finally justice has been given to the seer though delayed. The Tamil Nadu government should apologise to the seer and withdraw the cases against him forthwith in the light of the Supreme Court's decision."

Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Senior Vice President, VHP

"The very fact that the Supreme Court has granted bail to the Sankaracharya means that the Tamil Nadu police could not present concrete evidence against him. Since it could not gather evidence even after two months, the state government should immediately withdraw the cases against the seer and seek forgiveness from Hindus for hurting their religious sentiments."

Praveen Togadia, Secretary General, VHP

Poojyapada Shankaracharya Swami Jayendra Saraswati and Swami Vijayendra Saraswati Maharaj,

Sashtang Pranam,

Poojyawar ,

Bhagwan Shanker in order to save mankind from destruction drank the poison, which was one of the outcomes of the churning of the ocean . So also to save the Hindu dharma, Hindu Sanskriti and Hindu Samaj from the continuous onslaughts carried on by the demonic forces, their Holiness have stood like a rock, taking upon their Holiness all the fury of the vicious persecution carried on by those forces with unrelenting political Vendetta. In the true tradition of a saint their Holiness took it to be just a quirk of destiny. The point by point rebuttal of various charges unleashed by the media has enabled millions of devotees, followers and well wishers of the Mutt to know the truth and the hideous face of perpetrators of the crime stands thoroughly exposed . We are all indebted to their Holiness for their courage, bravery and equanimity.

In any further trial and tribulation that their Holiness may in future be facing, I have no doubt that the entire Hindu Samaj will stand by the Acharyas.

There is a saying in Hindi which says that there may be delay in Almighty’s court but ultimately only truth prevails. Their Holiness have emerged from this ‘Agnipariksha’ like shining pure gold .

Please accept our respectful ‘Pranams’

The judiciary also earns our highest respect when in its judgement on the bail application of the seer of the Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt, have given a fitting rebuff to the narrow-minded politicians who were trying to distort it for their own political convenience. And thus we found the confirmed criminals like Pappu Yadav could get bail at will while the same was denied to the Knachi seer. Please accept our deep appreciation

Sincerely ever

K.S Sudarshan, Sarsanghchalak, RSS

"With the Kanchi Shankaracharya prevented by the Supreme Court from entering the Kanchi math and the arrest of the junior Shankaracharya, there is now a vacuum in the management of the math. It is clear that the state government's motive is to take over the Kanchi math and install a puppet. The Supreme Court granting bail to the seer for lack of evidence was beyond the tolerance of the prosecution and their sole aim is to tarnish the reputation of the math in whatever possible manner.

"Everything should not be linked to the elections (assembly polls in Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand), but people in India are spiritual-minded and they are seeing all that is happening. They know that police cannot arrest the senior Shankaracharya in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh without the complicity of the centre. People will give appropriate response at the appropriate time.

Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP

"It is indeed very shocking that whenever it is a matter concerning other communities, Sonia Gandhi reacts immediately but now when it is a matter concerning Hindu sentiments, she is silent.

V K Mahotra, BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman

"It is with an immense sense of relief and satisfaction, shared by millions of my countrymen, that I greet the news of bail granted by the Supreme Court to His Holiness Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Kanchi math today. This has vindicated our stand, right from the beginning of this case that, whereas the law should take its course, there was no justification for treating Shri Shankaracharya as a "convicted criminal".

"The pain in the hearts of millions of Hindus, both in India and abroad, has been alleviated. Justice has prevailed. This is a welcome development.

Atal Behari Vajpayee, BJP

"We expressed our concern that after the Supreme Court granted bail this morning to the senior Shankaracharya, Vijayendra Saraswati was arrested in the evening. It seems that this is a fallout of the anger of Tamil Nadu government to the granting of bail by the apex court.

"The Prime Minister told us: "We share your concern". He said he had received representations four days ago from some people in Tamil Nadu apprehending the arrest of the junior seer and that it would be an obstacle to the traditional prayers at the Mutt which had been on for the last 2,500 years in the absence of both the seers.

"The government side which also included Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Shivraj Patil told us that "whatever is legally possible would be done".

L K Advani, BJP President, after a 45-minute meeting with the Prime Minister. Former President R Venkataraman led the delegation that included AB Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh as well.

Added: January 11, 2005

"It is not as if both the swamijis have not been away from the mutt at the same time in the past. There have been innumerable occasions when both the pontiffs have been away from the Sankara Mutt at Kancheepuram. While both the Pontiffs have been away from the mutt, arrangements have been made for the conduct of the daily puja in the past.

"It would be invidious not to construe this as breaking the tradition and affecting the daily puja at the mutt, while expressing the apprehension that the arrest of both the pontiffs and their being away be labelled as breaking the tradition of daily puja

"In fact, when Jayendra Saraswathi, the senior pontiff, was arrested on November 11 last, both he and the junior were at Mehboob Nagar near Hyderabad, being away from camp several days prior to November 11. The junior pontiff had returned to Kancheepuram only several days thereafter. It is therefore quite incorrect and unfounded to connect the arrest of the two pontiffs with the tradition of daily puja at the math."

"Even at the time of the arrest of Jayendra Saraswathi there were some apprehension, but this had been totally belied by the subsequent events. The public had greatly appreciated the principled stand of Tamil Nadu government that all were equal before the law.

"It could not be the Prime Minister's argument that while handling a conspiracy involving hired killers, the Tamil Nadu Police should make a distinction between those instigated, conspired and financed the murder inside a temple and those who carried it out, extending special treatment to the pontiffs as against the other accused. It is relevant to point out that all of them face similar charges.

"An onerous duty is cast on the Tamil Nadu Government to proceed the case in an impartial manner not swayed by sentiments or feelings. Upholding the majesty of law and the principle of equality of all before the law, however high or mighty the persons may be, is the bounden duty of the Tamil Nadu government and it ought to be their common endeavour to ensure that the Tamil Nadu Police maintains this tradition.

J. Jayalalitha, CM, Tamilnadu

"It is the victory of truth and we will do our best. We will fight it out to the last to restore the glory of the mutt. Those, who say the law will take its own course should see for themselves that in Tamil Nadu, law is taking Jayalalithaa's course, which is unjust and unfair. The state government's efforts to shake the people's faith in the Sankara mutt, had failed because faith is not fragile

The arrest of the junior seer is an assault on a religious institution. The centre should issue a direction to the state, instructing it to deal with the case according to the Constitution. The government is making attempts to take over the administration of the mutt and wanted to install somebody amenable to it as the mutt.

Sushma Swaraj, BJP

"The matter is before the court. We are not for any interference into law taking its course.... But what we want is that religious sentiments of the people should be respected.

"The Tamil Nadu government's decision to arrest the junior pontiff is after all a state subject and there is no question of whether or not it is in defiance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's letter to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa

"We want that puja should be performed regularly and on time. An alternative arrangement should be made to perform puja in the absence of senior pontiff Jayendra Saraswati and his junior who was arrested yesterday.

Girija Vyas, Congress, Spokespeson