Seer arrest assault on religious institution: BJP

Press Trust Of India
Posted online: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 at 1335 hours IST
Updated: Tuesday, January 11, 2005 at 1732 hours IST

New Delhi, January 11: Describing the arrest of Vijayendra Saraswathi in the Sankararaman murder case as an 'assault' on a religious institution, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday demanded the Centre to issue a direction to the Tamil Nadu government to act as per the Constitution in the matter.

"There is a motive behind the arrest. The Supreme Court has already said there is no prima facie (case) against Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi. But the Tamil Nadu police has arrested the junior pontiff in the same case", she told reporters here.

"It is not an individual case, but an assault on a religious institution. So the Centre should issue directions to the state under Articles 256 and 257 of the Constitution," she said, adding that it was not enough if the Prime Minister merely wrote a letter to the Chief Minister, expressing apprehensions that the junior seer would be arrested. She said that the puja to the main deity of Chandramouliswar had been disrupted due to the arrest of Vijayendra, something which had never occurred in the 2500 year history of the mutt. "The government has gone berserk", she added.