“She IS bent upon destroying the Kanchi Math”

(Compiled from various sources, including ‘The New Indian Express’, Chennai, Jan. 13, 05)

She continues to insult the sentiments of Hindus

Jayalalithaa continued to insult the sentiments of Hindus and this was evident the way the junior Acharya was arrested. When they went to arrest the Acharya, the police officials entered the Math wearing their shoes. BJP has demanded the dismissal of Jayalalithaa’s government as it was functioning in a vindictive manner and with an eye on minority votes and by relying on the support of atheistic forces.

She is out to destroy the Math and tradition

Jayalalithaa’s govt. has moved the SC for a direction to the Senior Acharya to stay in North India. She does not want him to stay anywhere in the South. And the BJP charged that Jayalalithaa was bent upon destroying the Kanchi Math and tradition. The petition seeking modifications in the conditions laid down by the SC while granting bail to the Senior Acharya clearly showed that Jayalalithaa was out after the Acharyas and the Kanchi Math. The petition filed by her government sough a direction that the Senior Acharya should not reside anywhere in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala or Karnataka, during the investigation and trial and also that the Acharya be directed to sign at a police station every day.

She is creating a fear psychosis among the devotees

The VHP said that Jayalalithaa was trying to create a fear psychosis among the devotees and supporters of Kanchi Math by issuing summons to them in the name of questioning them.

Several eminent persons were summoned by the police as they had supported the math activities in one sway or the other, he added. Police questioned octogenarian Neelakanta Iyer in connection with his post in the trust belonging to the Math. Police also questioned TAMBRAS leader Narayanan and devotee Balasubramanian.

“The latest example in this regard was the summons issued by the police to me this morning” Sri S. Vedantam, national vice president of the VHP, said. The summons was served on him as at the VHP Headquarters in Chennai asking him to appear before the special investigation team at Kanchipuram. Sri Vedantam refused to obey the directive, as he said, it was not as per law. “We are willing to cooperate with the authorities provided the police functions in accordance with law.”

Freezing of the Kanchi Math Bank Accounts

Bank accounts operated in the name of Kanchi Shankara Math in different banks at Kanchipuram have been frozen. Some of the cheques issued by the Math had bounced. Till now, no official communication had been received by the Math on freezing of the bank accounts and on whose instruction the action had been taken by the banks.

Volunteers courted arrest

Fifty volunteers of the VHP, BJP, and Hindu Munnani courted arrest while trying to hold a demonstration in Chennai protesting the arrest of the Junior Acharya. The former Union Ministers, Sushma Swaraj, S. Thirunavukkarasar and Bandaru Dattatreya, and H. Raja, MLA, called on the arrested. Mrs. Swaraj later visited the Junior Acharya at the central jail at Chennai.

Unending stream of devotees for the darshan of the Acharya

The Acharya, who was granted bail on Jan. 12, is now staying at Kalavai village, about fifty kms. from Vellore. There is an unending stream of visitors to the Math’s ‘Brindavanam’ at, right from the morning. The senior Acharya is staying there from Tuesday evening after his release on bail. Devotees and well-wishers of the Kanchi Shankara Math including industrialist and businessmen thronged the ‘Brindavanam’ on Wednesday to have a darshan of the Acharya.

‘Kanchi Acharya should not stay anywhere in South India’

As already mentioned, Jayalalithaa’s Govt filed applications in the SC seeking modifications to the order granting bail to the Senior Acharya and for a direction to him to stay in North India.

In one application, the TN Govt. sought direction that the Acharya shall not be present anywhere in South India-- in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, until the probe was completed, and the Acharya should be asked to stay in North India where the Math has its branches. He should also be asked to report daily at police station.

By another petition, the State sought the deletion of certain portions of the apex court judgment granting bail to the Acharya since they dealt with the merits of the case. Needless to say that the TN Govt. is against the SC considering the evidence and giving a finding on merits.

“The Kanchi Math has got its centers all over India, including in Delhi, and he may stay anywhere else in India till the trial is over” says the state Govt. Further “the Acharya should be directed to report to the police station once a day.”

‘The Court should restrain the Acharya and the Math…’

The court should also restrain him or the Math employees or his followers or any one representing him or on his behalf from giving interviews during the course of the investigations.

[In this context it should be noted that Jayalalithaa’s police had been freely feeding the media with concoctions about the Senior Acharya while his custodial interrogation was on progress; and even yesterday the police had no objection, when several television channels including the Sun TV, today showed excerpts from the video recording of the custodial interrogation of the Senior Acharya, by the police in Nov. 04. Who else other than the police could provide the electronic media with the video recording of the custodial interrogation?]

The TN Govt. gives a temporary undertaking

The TN govt. has given an undertaking in the session court at Chennai that the Senior Acharya would not be arrested till Jan. 20. He will be free to be at Kalavai, at least till next Monday, when the TN Govt.’s petition seeking his stay somewhere in north India when the SC will hear the TN govt.’s petition seeking his stay somewhere in north India.

The police have again issued summons to the Senior Acharya to appear before them tomorrow for questioning in another foisted case. Police visited Kalavai and served the summons.

Lest you forget: A recapitulation

When the Senior Acharya won the bail in the SC in the morning, the junior Acharya was taken into custody in the same case on the same charges. (The bail petition of junior Acharya, who was arrested on Jan. 10, will come up for hearing before Chengalpet sessions court on Jan. 17.)

But just as the Kanchi Math and its staff prepared to receive the Senior Acharya after two months incarceration, they came to know that the police may also slap a third case against him. In response, an anticipatory bail was moved on behalf of the Senior Acharya on Tuesday. And today, Jayalalithaa’s govt. gave the assurance that there would be no arrest till Jan. 20.

Earlier, the Sessions court had refused his bail plea and the Madras High Court too turned it down twice. Finally it went up to the SC to secure bail.

The TN govt. had relied almost entirely on confessional statements and the question of motive for the murder. But according to the SC there was no any prima facie evidence linking the Acharya to the hired killers and the murder, other than the confessions.

The Tamil Nadu Govt. first argued that huge sums were withdrawn from a particular Bank account. Then it changed its tune that the money was drawn from two or three banks. And finally told the SC that the Senior Acharya had huge sums of money with him in cash from advance paid as the sale of property and that this was used to pay the hired killers. But the defense counsel produced evidence to show that the money was deposited in Bank in May 2004 itself. These findings ultimately let the SC to grant bail to the Acharya and he was released.

Such being the case, the important question now being raised is: Why did Jayalalithaa’s Govt. get the junior Acharya arrested at this stage? It is the timing of this arrest that has raised eyebrows. It is highly significant that the arrest followed and did not precede the SC’s judgment. A bail application for the junior Acharya has been filed and it may not be difficult given the background of the senior Acharya’s case and bail.

What next?

There is a possible search on the Kanchi Math premises and one more case could be filed against the senior Acharya, according the media reports.

A message for the Madam

‘Use of laws must not upset pillars of democracy’, said the former TN Dy. DGP, V. Vaikunth, delivering an endowment lecture at the Madras University on Jan 12. ‘The balance struck among the four pillars of democracy -- executive, legislature, judiciary and press -- should not be upset by the use of harsh laws. Laws should be used only when absolutely necessary in the interest of the country’s unity, communal amity and security. They should not be used as a matter of routine.’

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‘jAYA’S BIAS AND ACT OF VENDETTA’

(Tit bits from the public opinion, as reflected in the Newspapers)

The arrest of Vijayendra Saraswati of Kanchi Shankara Mutt is very unfortunate, coming as it does almost immediately after the Supreme Court granted bail to the Senior Pontiff. It is like a slap on the face of all concerned, including the central government and the Supreme Court, as if asking “Now what will you do; we are exercising the executive power within the provisions of laws?” The fear that the intention is to finish off the mutt itself is now real, considering that all important functionaries from the senior pontiff to minor staff have all been taken into custody.

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The long drawn battle is over with the granting of bail to the Senior Acharya by the apex court. But the aspersions cast on him and the mutt by the investigation agency have left an indelible scar in the minds of devotees.

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The act of the police in storming the Kanchi mutt and arresting the Junior Acharya is highly condemnable. It clearly shows the state government’s inability to accept the Supreme Court’s granting of bail to the Senior Acharya.

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The arrest of the Junior Acharya is really an absurd and unwarranted action as the Supreme Court had categorically mentioned that the evidence produced against Acharya Jayendra Saraswati itself was totally wrong while granting bail. The police entered the mutt without any sanity and reverence for its tradition without removing their footwear and with guns.

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Heavens would not have fallen had the Junior Seer been allowed to complete his mandatory pooja and then taken into custody. Right from the beginning there are attempts to sensationalize the case and it is no surprise it has continued.

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The point is that the Chandra Mouleeswara pooja has to be performed by the Acharyas and not be performed by the Acharyas and not by anybody else. How can the pooja be performed when both the Acharyas are imprisoned? Even the British used to respect the sentiments of the Hindu mutts and people’s sentiments.

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The arrest of the Junior Acharya even while the Senior Acharya was in Vellore jail has definitely affected the pooja schedule of the two Seers, at least for a day.

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At last the ordeal of the seer has ended, at least for the time being thanks to the apex court. One shudders to think what would be the fate of an ordinary man if he gets caught on the wrong side of the powers-that-be. There is a ray of hope for him because institutions such as the Supreme Court are still around.

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The arrest of Vijayendra Saraswati was most unfortunate, especially when he has been cooperating with the investigation. The action of the police in entering the mutt without a warrant and arresting the Junior Seer as he was about to perform pooja, shows scant respect for the institution. It is time the central government intervened in the mater and protects the Kanchi unit.

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The Tamil Nadu Government’s application in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswati, not to stay anywhere in South India until a charge-sheet is filed in the Sankararaman murder case, is akin to asking for the Acharya’s banishment.

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The brazen display of state power in the arrest of Sri Vijayendra Saraswati, the junior Shankaracharya of the Kanchi Mutt, creates a sense of repugnance. The Tamil Nadu Government’s reputation has been besmirched beyond repair.

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Just when Sri Jayendra was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Sankararaman murder case on the ground that there was no prima facie evidence against him to deny bail, the junior seer has been arrested.

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The Government’s claim that the action is part of a principled stand having popular approval is baseless.

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One wonders what the clinching evidence was that warranted Sri Vijayendra’s arrest. All talk of “principled stand” by the Government seems to be a joke.

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Though the bail for Sri Jayendra comes as a relief, the court order restraining him from entering the Kanchi Mutt till a charge-sheet is submitted is disturbing. This is a more severe punishment for the Acharya than his imprisonment.

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The police claim they have evidence about the involvement of Sri Vijayendra in the murder of Sankararaman. They could have arrested him much earlier. Why did they allow him to return to the Mutt after they summoned him so many times?

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Sri Vijayendra visited the investigation office whenever he was summoned. It is unfortunate that the police action denigrating a place of worship is not receiving the condemnation it should.

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Sri Vijayendra is not the main accused in the case. The heavens would not have fallen if he had been allowed to complete his mandatory puja and then taken into custody.

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When the Supreme Court has clearly stated that there is no prima facie evidence to prove Sri Jayendra’s involvement in the conspiracy to murder.

Sankararaman, it is unfortunate that Sri Vijayendra has also been arrested in the same case for the same reasons.

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When Sri Jayendra’s bail plea was rejected by lower courts and the Madras High Court, the police claimed the evidence against him was strong and irrefutable. The Supreme Court’s observations have exposed the hollowness of the claim. But can the reputation of the Acharya and the Kanchi Mutt be restored?

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The biggest casually in the Mutt episode is the creditability of the Tamil Nadu police. The police machinery being used as an instrument of settling political/personal scores in almost every State is not good news for democracy.

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Even while the policy may be legitimately in possession of clinching evidence against the Sankaracharyas, their handling of the case is unprofessional.

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The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has pointed out in her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that even on earlier occasions, the two Acharyas have been away from the Mutt and that their absence will not affect the daily poojas. The Chandramouleeswara puja is performed only by the Sankaracharyas. When they travel, they carry the idol along.

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The pooja is performed thrice a day. Abhishekam of the spatika lingam is mandatory. The puja articles accompany the Acharya when they are on tour. Sri Vijayendra was arrested on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, both the Acharyas were behind bars and the morning puja was not performed.

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The arrest of the junior Acharya even while the senior was yet to be released on bail certainly affected the puja schedule.

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Why was Sri Vijayendra not permitted to complete his puja?

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Does the arrest of Sri Vijayendra without giving sufficient time for the arrangement of the poojas indicate some effort to stop the activities of the Mutt?

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