Struggle has begun, we cannot leave Shankaracharyas in jail: Vajpayee

Updated: Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 1943 hours IST

New Delhi, January 15: Upping the BJP’s Hindutva ante ahead of the Assembly polls, former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today vowed to oppose tooth and nail any attempt to "control" the Kanchi mutt even as other senior party leaders demanded the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu government.

Kickstarting the party's week-long campaign against the arrest of the two Shankaracharyas, Vajpayee told a gathering of party workers here that a conspiracy was underway to disrupt the pooja at the mutt and install a third person.

"An attempt is on to control the mutt and violate its sanctity. This conspiracy is a challenge to the society and we are accepting the challenge... We hope it (state government) will not commit such a stupidity, but if it is determined to commit injustice, we will peacefully respond to it and we should be ready for it...

"The direction and condition of the country will change with the sun changing its direction this sankranti. We cannot remain silent spectators. We have faith in the judiciary, society and in our strength. We neither do injustice nor allow it. We cannot leave the Shankaracharyas in jail. The struggle has begun. Let the state government follow the rules but we will not bow before vendetta," he said.

The NDA chairman said the arrest of the two Shankaracharyas was not "just another incident". In an apparent reference to the comparisons being made between the Shankaracharya's arrest and the non-arrest of the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, he said, "It is not a question of Hindus vs Muslims. Everyone has a right to freedom of religion. The state is secular and it cannot have one attitude towards one religion and another towards others."