Sunday, January 30, 2005

Kanchi seer arrest pre-determined drive against mutt

Monday January 31 2005 00:00 IST
PTI

NEW DELHI: Terming the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi as a "pre-determined drive" against the mutt, Sangh Parivar ideologue S Gurumurthy said it was clear that it was not for enforcement of law alone.

Gurumurthy, joint convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), alleged that it was a pre-determined drive and the entire Tamil Nadu administration was kept in the dark, claiming that the state advocate-general was also "not consulted" before taking the action.

Participating in a talk here on the siege of Kanchi mutt and its implications, the SJM leader said it was "impossible to say" what prompted the Jayalalithaa government to take the step and claimed it was "not for enforcement of law alone."

He noted that the arrest at the "behest" of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, a "Hindu sympathiser", had a "shocking effect" on the Hindu community.

Referring to Jayalalithaa's statement before the state assembly, Gurumurthy said words like "shocking evidence of acharya's involvement" were used, but before the Supreme Court they could not come up with any substantial proof, which tantamount to the fact that they reduced the acharya to a "common criminal".

Terming the arrests of Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi, as "character assassination of two seers and the historic mutt," BJP leader Balbir Punj said the party would take the fight against injustice to its logical conclusion.

Kanchi Mutt is a place of worship, no doubt

Sunday, 30 January , 2005, 22:55

Kalavai: Discounting Tamil Nadu government’s stand that the Sankara Mutt premises at Kancheepuram was not a place of worship, the mutt on Sunday night asserted that it housed several idols, including that of the second Sankaracharya Sureshwara Acharya, and pujas were being performed.

Describing the government’s latest stand taken in the Madras High Court as "contradictory" to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s January 12 reply to the Prime Minister on his apprehension about a possible break in the traditional pujas, mutt sources told reporters that the Chief Minister had stated that the pujas were being performed at the mutt even in the absence of the seers.

In a counter in the High Court on January 27, while seeking a stay on the National Human Rights Commissions notice questioning the manner of the recent arrest of junior seer Vijayendra Saraswathi from the mutt premises, the government said the mutt was not a place for either private or public worship.

The High Court stayed further proceedings pursuant to the NHRC notice issued on January 13.

Mutt sources said pujas were being performed on the mutt premises to the idols of Sri Adi Sankara and his "sishyas". It also housed a idol of lord Ganapathi dating back to over 1,500 years. Inscriptions left by various kings had stated that ghee lamps should continue to be lit without any break. This practice was being followed even now in the mutt, they said.

HC reprieve for seer

Pioneer News Service/ Chennai

The Madras High Court has dealt a death blow to what was meant to be a third case against Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati. On Friday, Justice M Thanikachalam said the case seems to have been 'foisted' on the Shankaracharya.

The judge made these observations while granting anticipatory bail to four persons, associated with the TVS group of companies, allegedly involved in the 'attack' on Mr Thirukkottiyur Madhavan, a Vaishnavite priest, in August 2004. Initially, Mr Madhavan told the doctors that he had been injured in a road accident.

Three months later, in November the priest complained to the Central Chennai police station that he had been attacked for opposing the shifting of a Lord Shiva idol from the Thirukkarungudi Perumal temple near Valliyoor, in Tirunelveli district.

In his complaint, Mr Madhavan named Sri Saraswati and some employees of the TVS Group as those responsible for the attack. The case was then handed over to the special police team probing the Kanchipuram Sankararaman murder case.

Granting anticipatory bail to the accused Muthukrishnan, Selvam, Seshadri and Ranganathan, Justice M Thanikachalam observed: "Considering the facts of the case, as well as the inordinate delay in preferring the complaint, and considering the towering fact that at the earliest opportunity, the complainant reported that he sustained injuries only in a road accident, I am of the undoubted view that this case must be a foisted one."

The Court also noted that the doctor who treated Mr Madhavan had recorded that he was conscious at the time and had stated that he was injured in a road accident. The injuries, given in the wound certificate, "suggest the complainant might have suffered the injuries only in a road accident," the judge observed.

"I am unable to believe the statement of the complainant, even prima facie, that he was a target of attempt to murder by these persons, who are working in a reputed company holding respectable and responsible posts," Justice Thanikachalam said, adding that the statement to the police that Sri Jayendra Saraswati was responsible for the dispute at the Thirukkarungudi temple also failed to persuade him.

Sri Jayendra Saraswati has also sought anticipatory bail in the case. His petition is due to come up on February 3.

The four petitioners - a former police officer in charge of security at the industrial house, his two subordinates, and an executive - were granted pre-arrest bail and directed to appear before the Judicial Magistrate-II, Kanchipuram, within 15 days and execute bail bonds.

The Kanchi Math's senior Acharya has already obtained bail in two cases, the Sankararaman murder case and the Radhakrishnan attempt to murder case.

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Revengeful politics at Kanchi

M.V. KAMATH | Saturday, January 29, 2005 13:3:39 IST
Where was the need to surreptitiously leak out the seer's alleged confession while in police custody to two private TV channels?

IT is now getting increasingly clear that what is projected as a case against Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi for murder is, in reality, an attempt by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalitha, to destroy the reputation of the religious head. All this talk of letting the law take its course seems rubbish. Jayalalitha is indulging in a vendetta. She is doing everything she can to destroy the reputation of the Kanchi Sankaracharya. Leave aside the fact that the Supreme Court has given bail to the Mathadhipathi. As The Hindu (January 12) said: 'The Court would permit detention only if it finds reasonable grounds for believing that the person is guilty. The Supreme Court found that the prosecution in the Sankaracharya case did not cross this threshold'. Of course, the court made it very clear that the final decision has yet to be made and as The Hindu put it, 'in purely legal terms, if (the Sankaracharya's) arrest two months ago could not be seen as proof of guilt, his release on bail is not be seen as final exoneration either'. Granted. But to quote the paper again: 'With the Supreme Court finding that the evidence gathered so far in the Sankararaman murder case is too thick to warrant detention of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the arrest of the junior Acharya who would seem to be more peripheral in the case, is inexplicable'. What is clear so far is that Jayalalitha is hell-bent on destroying the Kanchi seer's image. Where was the need to surreptitiously leak out the seer's alleged confession while in police custody to two private TV channels? Isn't that meant to condition the public mind in one particular direction? What kind of a sick woman is this Jayalalithaa? Why can't the Court restrain her? As Hindustan Times (January 12) put it, 'the case brings out the shoddy working of the police in our country'. The paper said that "instead of investigating a case and building up grounds for an arrest, the police first rush to arrest a suspect, take him into custody and, through what is euphemistically called 'sustained interrogation' made up a case". The paper further said: 'The time has come for the government to give serious consideration to professionalising criminal investigation across the country and ending the tyranny of rules framed in the 19th century'. Meanwhile, another question arises. Can one sue the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for encouraging her police to leak out alleged evidence even before the Court hears it? Is that proper? Importantly, is that legal? With what seems a clear case of vengefulness the Tamil Nadu government has frozen as many as 183 bank accounts of the Kanchi mutt, making it almost impossible for the mutt's aid centres, hospitals, educational institutions and veda pathashalas to function. The Telegraph (January 14) quotes one of Jayendra Saraswathi's lawyers, A. Shanmugham as saying: "This is without any basis and amounts to violation of the fundamental rights of my client." At this point, what exactly is the seer charged with? Abetment of murder? Molestation of women devotees? Misappropriation of funds? How come Jayalalitha is allowed to get away with her vengefulness on the theory that the law is no respecter of persons and will take its course? Is that true only of a religious head, or is it equally applicable to a Chief Minister? Somebody must answer to that. The Supreme Court has exposed the irrelevance of the charges so far made against the seer. Can this be used to sue Jayalalitha for character assassination? Murder comes in all shapes and forms. The media, understandably, has been lapping up whatever material it comes across.

Assam newsline

It would seem that the print media these days is becoming more and more attractive to young graduates. According to The Statesman (January 8), journalism is presently drawing 'hundreds of young professionals from the sciences, apart from the arts stream which was where most hailed from'. Fancy journalism inviting technical graduates including those from agriculture, veterinary, geology and other applied sciences! What is it that attracts them? Print journalism is flourishing. Again, according to The Statesman Assam's political, commercial and educational hub, Guwahati, has 'twenty' dailies, half of them in Assamese. Seven dailies are published from more than one centre and three Assamese dailies claim circulation surpassing a lakh each. The print media in Assam is a major employer, with 8,000 direct jobs and indirect employment for some 20,000 persons in a state with a population of 26 million. Apparently, another 400 Guwahati based journalists work for various local, regional and national newspapers. But what marks the Assamese language media and what is not widely known outside the region, says The Statesman, is that a number of their editors are award winning and highly regarded scholars like Manoj Goswami of Dainik Janasadharan, Homen Borgohain, formerly of Amar Asom and Kanak Sen Deka of Agradoot. Sen, reportedly, is the current president of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, with Borgohain being his immediate predecessor.
But what is even less known is the enormous pressure under which Assamese journalists function. They are reportedly under constant threats from insurgents, surrendered militants and even security personnel. In the last twenty years, over twenty journalists have been killed in the line of duty. And that is a sobering thought. In its earliest days, Assamese journals seemed to have only one major aim; liberating Assam from the Bengali hold. Later that was viewed as another facet of social work. But it was only following the student-led agitation against illegal migration in the early 1980s that journalism assumed a political face. And that is the face it presently wears.

Exercising power

Incidentally - and so far, only The Telegraph (January 14) has carried the story, the Income Tax Department is pushing for a physical assessment of offerings made by Jayalalitha, including a diamond-studded gold crown, to the Guruvayoor Sri Krishna temple in June 2001 'in the face of opposition from the temple authorities and the Kerala government'. The crown is reportedly worth Rs. 6.5 crore. How come Jayalalitha could afford to spend Rs. 6.5 crore for an offering? There are several cases against her and it is time the government took a closer look at them. Jayalalitha is quoted by The Telegraph as saying that whatever she gifted to the temple, was given to her by her supporters and devotees of Guruvayoorappan. Some explanation, that. For far too long a time has this country put up with politicians' shenanigans. It is time the government took some action against those who have been exercising power indiscriminately, without being accountable to anyone, let alone the general public. The rubbishing of the people should be called a halt to. There has been enough of it.

‘Kanchi Math is not a place of worship’ -- Jayalalithaa

From day one, when the Acharya was put behind the bars, Jayalalithaa’s government has been heaping scorns, insults and humiliations on him endlessly and ruthlessly, by every possible way and means. And it has now come to a climax!

When the government of the erstwhile actress-turned politician, said that the Kanchi Math is not a place of worship, she not only insulted the Hindu traditions of the 2500-years of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, but also indirectly maligned all the Maths and the Mathadhipathis of Tamil Nadu, and posed a challenge to them. The reaction of the “Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha”, an apex Hindu body comprising all the Mathadhipathis and Mandaleshwars, is not immediately known.

Needless to say that the devotee were amused, nay hurt when Jayalalithaa’s government made this ludicrous statement: ‘Kanchi Math is not a place of worship.’ Perhaps, this might be a clever ploy for avoiding all responsibility for the misdeeds of her police at the Math which they invaded without the permission of the Acharya, to arrest him, or is she indirectly defending their misdeeds?

“Kanchi Math is not a place for either private of public worship; it is a place where the Peethadhipathis are permanently residing… If some people are under the impression that the Math is a place of worship, they are sadly mistaken… it is only a dwelling place/ residential colony (of the members of the Math who are permanently residing there), with all the facilities such as kitchen, bedroom, attached toilets, etc, a dwelling place with television sets, cable networks, etc)”-- that is how Jayalalithaa’s government described the Kanchi Shankara Math while challenging notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission over the alleged violation of the sanctity of the math during the arrest of the junior Acharya on the night of January 10.

The writ petition filed by the State Chief Secretary today in the Madras High court went on to assert, “no deity is ever installed in the Math so as to qualify it as a place of worship. Entry of the Math is not available to the general public and is, at the best, confined to a select group of people. Hence to call it a place of worship is a misnomer.” It further said, “There is no sanctum sanctorum for anyone to perform any pooja to any deity therein…The Math is not a temple in the ordinary sense or in any religious sense.” Also the body of the earlier Pontiff, Chandrasekarendra Saraswati was buried inside the Math. “No Hindu temple or relic could accommodate a body to be buried or allow the temple to be a graveyard inside a place of worship”, the petition declared. The petition also makes a foray into archaeology while disputing claims that the centuries-old tradition of the Math had been violated in the arrest episode. The inscriptions of the Pallava period (dating back to 12th and 13th centuries) did not refer to the Math at all though Kancheepuram was the capital of the Pallavas, said the petition.

As the Tamil Nadu Govt. says if the Math is not a place of worship, why is it that the Govt. is interfering in the Math activities by scrutinizing the Math accounts under the HR & CE Act? And when regular poojas are performed to the Math deity, Chandramouleeswar, as well as to the Adhisthanam of Paramacharya, how can the Govt. say that it is not a place of worship? Thousands of devotees, irrespective of caste daily visit the Kanchi Shankara Math because it is a place of worship. And above all, the Mathadhipathi himself is a living deity adored by all the devotees who visit the Math regularly.

Ill-treatment to the Jr. Acharya--Some revelations

As the people saw through Jayalalithaa’s game and the Himalayan heights of her low-level vendetta at work, there came shocking revelations about the uncouth behavior of Jayaa’s police, as reported by H. Raja, BJP MLA and General Secretary of Tamil Nadu State BJP:

The arrest of Junior Acharya was executed by one Rajamani, DSP of Kanchipuram. On entering the Kanchi Math, this DSP went straight to the Junior Acharya and shouted at him with these disparaging words in Tamil: “dai veliye vada” (“Come out you fellow”). When the Junior Acharya requested him to give half an hour time to perform pooja, the DSP again shouted at the Acharya abusively in Tamil: “unakku yedakk pooja. Udane veliye vaada” (“Stop pooja and get out immediately”). Then the Acharya stopped the pooja and just before going along the DSP in question, went straight to the Paramacharya’s Adhisthanan (Samadhi) to offer prayers. The DSP then immediately ordered the accompanying constables in Tamil: “dai avan pin pakkamai tappi viduvaan. Pinpakkam pongada” (“He will escape from the back yard. Therefore rush there.”

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Arrest just for shouting slogans

Soon after the arrest of the Junior Acharya, all the devotees present in the Math were ordered to get out. Outside the Math about 100 devotees had assembled. While most of them were in tears because of the ill-treatment to and the arrest of the junior Acharya, some of them started shouting slogans in Tamil against the police atrocities: “Police araajagam oziga” (“Down, down with the Police atrocities”). The police then resorted to a mild lath charge on the assembled devotees and those who shouted slogans were immediately arrested and taken away.

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Interrogation with a pistol on his forehead

When Sunderesa Iyer, the Manager of the Kanchi Math was being interrogated by Police at the SIT office at Kanchipuram, a pistol was held on his forehead of and he was asked to confess that the Senior Acharya was behind the murder and that money was paid to the hired goons.” This was later revealed Sunderesa Iyer to the devotees at the Math as also to H. Raja, MLA.

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She got the Math Goshala removed

The Shankar Math was running a Goshala at Sri Ekambareswar Temple at Kanchipuram for about a decade. There were more than 100 cows in the Goshala. Through the HR & CE Department, Jayalitha got the Math Goshala removed from there and the Math had to shift all the 100 cows to the Math’s own place at Enathur, a nearby village.

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Her political terrorism

Manindra Singh Bitta, president of the Anti-Terrorist Front, and leader of the Haryana Congress Youth Wing, who called on the Kanchi Acharya at Kalavai on last Sunday, said that his organization was the first one in Delhi to protest against the arrest of the Acharya. He described the Acharya’s arrest as “political terrorism.” Such terrorism used to be perpetrated only against politicians, but Sri Jayendra Saraswati was the first religious leader to be subjected to political terrorism. Mr. Bitta visited the Shankara Math and offered prayers at the Samadhi of the previous Senior Acharya.

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The Judge puts Jayalalithaa’s police squarely in the dock

The Madras High court came down heavily on the prosecution in the Radhakrishnan assault case for inordinate delay in investigation. It observed that the two-year probe delay created doubts over investigation process.

Justice M. Thanikachalam hearing a batch of bail pleas by the co-accused pointed out that the date of occurrence was Sept. 20, 2002, while the wheel of investigation was set in motion only on No. 6 last. “Why the inordinate delay? What is the motive for investigation? I must know what the investigating agency was doing for the past two years?”

Justice Thanikachalam hurled a barrage of questions at Public Prosecutor K. Duraiswamy, who was opposing the bail pleas--“When did the wheel of investigation in the case move? What do you say for a delay of two years? Were all laws under a standstill? Was the investigation under hydraulic brakes? Are the police going to cite Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal and Kanchi Kamakshi as eye-witness in this case also? (The Superintendent of Police K Prem Kumar had told the media the other say that Lord Varadarajar was the wetness of the murder of Sankararaman).

Justice Thanikachalam also noted that the inordinate delay investigation had raised many doubts over the role of police in conducting investigation. “What is the role of police in two years? I must know how the investigation agency had functioned” the Judge observed.

When the Public Prosecutor told the court that no material was available to proceed with the case initially and investigation commenced on Nov. 6 last year as soon as the police obtained some clues, the judge wanted to know whether the case dairy contained such details. “Does you case diary show that investigation was not purseued for want of material only? What is the motive for Prosecution? Shall I presume that in order to investigate a crime you will wait for another crime to be committed? The victim has given in writing specially identifying who are suspected persons.”

When the Public Prosecutor submitted that there was indeed negligence on the part of the police in the initial stages and that the breakthrough was made in the case during investigation in the Sankararaman murder case, the judge asked: “Were all laws standstill during the past tow years?”

When the judge wanted to know what were the materials available against the other accused, the Public Prosecutor said the police had also recovered some weapons. “After two years, you say weapons were recovered, and you want the court to believe it, isn’t it?” the Judge asked him sharply.

After hearing arguments and counter-arguments, the Judge reserved his order on the petition.

Acharya: Selected Questions and Answers in Thuglak:

Thuglak issue dated 29-12-2004 Selected Questions & Answers

Is it possible to drug an accused, record what he says in his drugged state and use that as evidence?

If it is proved that the accused was drugged, a statement extracted that way will not be admissible. In addition drugging an accused is an offence and it is possible to initiate criminal proceedings against those who carried out such an act.

How have the pictures of Sri Jayendrar’s confession published in various publications?

Unless the police themselves have released them, publications could not have got these pictures. Police using their enquiry for such propaganda is indeed very wrong.

Is it possible that even a statement by a lady that ‘a certain person posed a threat to my modesty’, could be a lie?

It is a fact that several courts have seen. Sometimes some women do concoct such charges in order to take vengeance against some one, for some reason.

While your article on the roles and responsibilities of the public prosecutor (Thuglak – 15-12-2004) was nice, who will ensure that the guilty is punished?

It is the duty of the police to do that. It is the responsibility of the police to ensure that the case they have succeeds, by providing irrefutable evidence, witnesses beyond a shade of doubt and present them before the court through the prosecution. It is not the duty of the prosecution to get the guilty punished even if the evidences are incomplete and the witnesses are shaky.

What do you think about the police action calling auditor S. Gurumurthy for an enquiry, just because he wrote an article in an English newspaper about Sri Jayendrar’s arrest?

The police have called Gurumoorthy because he raised some questions that could be embarrassing for them. At the same time many magazines are publishing inadmissible evidences having got them from the police. Photographs taken from the video footage captured during police enquiry appear in the publications.

So far the police have never asked them ‘How did you get these?’ When you see it in this context we can understand that this is a threat/warning. ‘If you comment on the police enquiry we will not leave you alone’ is the clear warning to the media world issued through Gurumurthy.

How will the climate created by the media, the lawyers, and political parties affect the court & its proceedings?

When you have a criminal case if the media propoganda that ‘the accused is indeed guilty’, slogans by political leaders that ‘he must be punished without fail’, rumours spread by the police that ‘the accused is not only guilty of this charge but is guilty of several other unacceptable charges’ – keep appearing relentlessly it would not be possible for the prosecution to conduct a fair trial. In such an event there will be undue pressure on the court.

Even in the US where there is a practice of conducting a trial with a jury. In some cases because of news reports in a particular state influences public opinion in a manner that people could believe that the accused is guilty, the case is transferred to another state.

Even though we do not have a jury system, shifting the case to a different state when there is an environment that could cause a bias, will ensure a fair trial.

What do you think of the writer Vaasanthi’s views that ‘Mutts, gurus etc are like brokers and middlemen. There is no need for such people between God & man’?

Those who believe that ‘I don’t need a broker between me & my education’ and therefore treat teachers as brokers, and believe that they can acquire knowledge without their help, may learn and progress by themselves. Those who have acquired the maturity and have evolved enough to think that ‘My relationship with God is a direct one. Why do I need brokers in between?’ may realise God by themselves.

There may even be those who have acquired the wisdom that everything & every one is God. It depends on their mental evolution. Those who do not have such mental maturity, believe that they do not need ‘middlemen’, it is they who will lose. Because they understand this many people approach Gurus. What is wrong in it.

Jayalalithaa Hell hath no fury

Source: www.vigilonline.com

If it weren’t for the fact that we are dealing with a perverse woman hell-bent on destroying a high religious institution, I could have smirked that events related to the Kanchi mutt are unfolding unerringly along scripted lines
(http://www.vigilonline.com/news/plain_speak/ps_view.asp?plainSpeakId=72). First the woman arrests Pujya Kanchi Acharya, then she gets her minions to plant stories in the media about Pujya Acharya and thin women and fat, young women and bald, and when she realizes that people are laughing at her desperation she arrests the manager of the mutt, then she arrests Pujya Bala Periava’s brother, then she gets the unsavoury SP of Kancheepuram to issue periodic summons to devotees and bhaktas of the mutt and finally she gets her menials once again to plant stories in the media about the impending take-over of the mutt itself.

So far, Jayalaithaa was playing the role as crafted in the script that she wrote for the mutt - herself as Nemesis and Pujya Acharya as villain. The courts in Tamil Nadu including the Madras High Court were willing dramatis personae of this script. Besides acting in tandem with each other in adjourning bail hearings, extending judicial or police custody with a view to keeping Pujya Acharyas in jail for as long as was legally possible without grounds, the Madras High Court while refusing the bail petition of Pujya Acharya for the second time on 8th December 2004, virtually declared the Acharya to be guilty of crimes punishable by death or life imprisonment. This does little to affirm the faith of Hindus in the state judiciary.

But, and it is a significant but, there happened a twist in the tale and the unfolding drama that had turned into a heart-wrenching tragedy for devotees and supporters of the mutt was now fast turning into a melodrama, not to say spoof to the lady’s consternation. Our lady was confronted by three judges of the Supreme Court who refused to go along with her script. They decided to ad lib and the lady’s plot went awry. The script came unstuck at the seams and the story danced along running out of the lady’s control. Pujya Acharya was granted bail by the Supreme Court and he is back in the Kalavai mutt, his Guru sthanam, doing what Jayalalithaa feared the most, attracting the rich and the famous and the powerful, attracting devotees in huge numbers, towards himself. All roads it would seem, lead to Kalavai. Pujya Acharya was reinstated as the idol in the script, now being crafted by the Supreme Court which also dismissed Jayalalithaa’s curative petition not to have her disproportionate assets case heard in Bangalore. The lady has been banished to the corner with the dunce cap on her head. The Supreme Court has now appropriated Jayalalithaa’s coveted role of Nemesis in the drama and I could chortle with glee.

But Jayalalithaa doesn’t like wearing the dunce cap it seems nor does she like being made to sit in the corner. So soon after the Supreme Court delivered the judgment granting bail to Pujya Acharya, she stomped her feet, threw a blue fit, did a ‘Surpanakha-with-a-chopped-nose’ act and arrested Pujya Bala Periava promptly in the evening. Then she freezes all 183 bank accounts of the Kanchi mutt so that Pujya Acharya will not have the wherewithal to run the huge establishment which includes the mutt itself, goshalas, homes for the aged, for the destitute, for girl children, the veda patashalas and all other trusts and institutions rendering great service to the needy and the deprived irrespective of their caste or religion. And finally she did what some of us have been waiting for her to do – detain Sundaresa Iyer, the manager of the mutt and Raghu, Pujya Bala Periava’s brother under the Goonda’s Act. Jayalalithaa must understand that nothing that she has done or intended to do so far has taken any of us by surprise. We have always known what her next move would be. It doesn’t call for much intelligence to deconstruct a deranged mind.

We may never know why Jayalalithaa is playing the classic role of the woman scorned. But there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything that she has done so far. At least not if one were to use normal human conduct as the touchstone. But if we approached the issue as deconstructing a person who is neither rational nor normal then one may perceive the workings of a tortured mind. The arrest and what followed has been a saga of a woman in rage, not ordinary rage but demented rage. Jayalalithaa wanted to inflict maximum damage to the mutt and maximum humiliation to Pujya Jayendra Saraswati Swamigal. Hindu sensibilities and Bala Periava’s incarceration are merely collateral damage, a small detour towards her real objective – to break Pujya Acharya’s spirit, discredit him for ever in the Acharya Sabha, de-legitimise him in public life, strip him of the leadership role that he had assumed in all issues concerning Hindu society and which had become politically charged and explosive and finally to force him to abdicate his peetham. These are not desires of an ordinary or a normal human being.

Let me grant that there is probably a very deep conspiracy to lay siege to the Hindus of the country, to entrap them in siege mentality – petrified by fear, feeling hounded, harassed and paralysed in thought and action. Now what may the consequences be of rendering the Hindus hors-de-combat for the polity of this country, its existence as a nation-state, its ethos as a Hindu-majority nation are matters for in-depth study and analysis. But let there be no doubts on this score, Hindus of India, constituting over 80% of the population can be made to feel helpless and impotent only by state power - domestic, foreign or both acting in collusion. Whether Jayalaithaa is acting alone or whether she is funded and backed by foreign forces and governments are still conjectures waiting to be proved. But the reign of terror that she has let loose against the Kanchi mutt, its devotees and supporters is similar to preludes to other wars when cows would be abducted or slaughtered, women carried away or raped and temples destroyed. These are acts intended to humiliate the victims and break their spirit. So who is Jayalalithaa’s target? Pujya Acharya, the Kanchi mutt, high Hindu religious institutions, the Hindus themselves? The answer to that one would depend on whether Jayalalithaa is a demented woman acting alone or acting in collusion with other large forces. And keeping in mind the fact that Pujya Acharya has been in the forefront of important issues concerning the Hindus and which have very grave political implications, it is possible that Jayalalithaa is colluding with very big external forces to render the Hindus impotent.

And that it why I suspect we are dealing with an abnormal mind. It is also a dangerous mind because it knows no restraint and is setting dangerous precedents for future relations between Indian polity and the Hindu community. And that is why ‘Vigil’ is insisting that Jayalalithaa be punished in an exemplary manner to discourage other adventurists in Indian polity from taking similar liberties with Hindu sensibilities. The cynical manner in which the Veerasaiva mutt in Kumbakonam was taken over three days ago by this woman only goes to prove that Jayalalithaa is demonstrating to the Hindu community that she will do anything now to hurt their interests and humiliate them. The take over of this mutt by the HR&CE by brute force was made possible only because constitutionally we have allowed the state the right to administer Hindu temples and Hindu religious institutions which also includes the right to take over any temple or religious institution under the flimsiest of pretexts. Having made an example of the Kanchi mutt Jayalalithaa has emboldened other rascals in Indian polity to demand the take over of the Udipi Sri Krishna temple and also the Udipi Pejawara mutt. I have no doubts that we will henceforth hear shrill demands for taking over this temple or that, this mutt or that, citing financial irregularities, caste conflict, discrimination, or anything at all.

If Hindu intellectuals who have so far played into Jayalalithaa’s hands by holding themselves and other important Hindu organizations aloof from the issue still do not have the intelligence to see the problem in its totality they will forever be held guilty of having let down the Indian civilization. The war for survival of the Hindus in their homeland has barely begun and these individuals are already out of the war. Hindus don’t need other enemies. They are their own worst enemies.

23rd January, 2005.

(Remarks by G.C.Asnani : An outstanding “Actor” or “Actress” should be able to play successfully the opposing roles very quickly. A little while ago, Ms Jayalalitha acted as pro-Hindu by passing Rules against Conversions. Now, she has reversed her role and played very successfully the role of an anti-Hindu. She is a top-class Actress.)

Pejawar Swami warns against temple takeover

“The Mathadhipathis of the eight Maths at Udupi will go on an indefinite hunger strike if the Government takes over Sri Krishna Temple in Udupi and appoints an administrator to the temple,” the Pejawar Swamiji Vishwesha Thirtha, said.

He said that the Maths had been exempted from the Karnataka Religious and Charitable Endowments Act. “The Krishna temple belongs to the Ashta Maths and puja performed by the pontiffs on rotation for the past 800 years. But there is no dispute over allowing people to enter the temple to worship Lord Krishna,” he said.

The Swamiji said that the State government was aware about the facts and cannot bring the temple under the Endowments Department now.

The recent statement of the Minister for Revenue, M.P. Prakash, that according to the Supreme Court order, the Krishna Temple had been notified under the Hindu Religious Endowments Act along with other temples in the State and that the Government intended to bring the Krishna temple under the Endowments Department and appoint an administrator, was surprising.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

Secularism or state oppression?

M VENKATARAMAN

[ THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2005 02:13:58 PM ]

The Indian Constitution, under Article 26, vests unfettered power in religious institutions, whether Hindu, Buddhist or Sikh, to manage their own religious affairs.

Although management of religious aspects rests completely with the institutions, the government is armed with the power to intervene on limited social and financial aspects for welfare objectives and social reforms under specified circumstances.

But sadly, the state which is expected to be distant from religious affairs and pretends to be neutral to all religious practices is now increasingly seeking a larger role in the management of religious institutions.

The power endowed to the state by the Constitution for reform, is now being misused to control specific religious institutions.

To elaborate, under the Hindu Religious Charitable Endowments Act, government has the power to appoint trustees under given circumstances.

Also there are different states' laws, under which state governments can intervene in the affairs of religious institutions.

Likewise, under the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Endowments Act, 1959, the government has the power to step-in, should any mutt be rendered without a leader.

Shri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham at Kanchipuram is now without both the Seers, His Holiness Jayendra Saraswati (senior pontiff) and Vijayendra Saraswati (junior pontiff). The Tamil Nadu government can, under circumstances such as these, invoke its power under the State Act to appoint its own trustees to the mutt.

After the arrest of both the pontiffs and in the backdrop of influenced public opinion that all is not well with the mutt, the government obviously hopes all paths are clear for the state to take over.

There is another point: Technically the mutt is not headless because Jayendra Saraswati continues to perform pooja, though he is not at Kanchi, but at Kalavai, which is technically an integral part of the mutt. It must be noted however that the pooja performed at Kalavai is no less significant than pooja performed at the original mutt complex.

Hence, on the basis of the facts, the Kanchi mutt cannot be termed "headless". Probably this is the reason that the state government is dithering over seizing control of this influential mutt.

Our Constitution treats all religions as equal. The powers given under its Article 26 are only for positive intervention or for intervention regarding financial and welfare aspects.

The founding fathers of the nation could not have visualized that the power invested in the state to intervene in distress situations would actually translate into a weapon used by the state for its arm-twisting tactics.

Constitutional provisions requiring the state to intervene for reform and welfare has today become the biggest threat to invasion of the liberties and the faith of the Hindus.

After nearly 55 years of the Constitution coming into effect, never ever has the government sought to intervene in situations of distress or precarious financial conditions, or, to build or rehabilitate the concerned religious institution.

On the contrary, the government has cleverly used the law to usurp power at many Hindu religious shrines, be it Tirupati, Shirdi or Vaishno Devi.

Likewise, the government has always sought to acquire control over shrines which generate huge income, and conveniently forgotten temples and shrines that are in distress – financially or otherwise, across the country.

Thus, it appears that the government has its own agenda, and intervenes where the votebanks are crucial and/or there are huge financial resources at stake.

Besides it uses its power to armtwist the clerics and officials of the mutts and temples to fulfill its own underlined politically motivated objectives.

But what makes the government believe that more problems and more adversities lie at Hindu temples and not at non-Hindu temples? Technically, Hinduism, includes Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism under Indian law.

Why has the government chosen its power grabbing tactics with regard to Hindu temples only and not against others?

Is the government scared of political implications if they were to take over non-Hindu shrines even if it badly needs government intervention? Or is it the appeal of power which attracts the government’s attention?

Today there are hundreds and thousands of shrines all across the country of differing faiths and religions which are crying for reform, resources, revival and conservation. Yet the government has not paid a semblance of attention to these because either the shrines are non-Hindu or financially not profitable or unimportant with reference to votebank politics.

For the last fifty years, political leaders have been preaching the country’s secular tenets and principles, yet despite our obligation to the Constitution, our government has taken charge of rich and wealthy temples, ignoring the rest.

Even where such government take-overs have become a matter of judicial scrutiny, most provisions are in favour of the state governments.

Such cases have been fought on facts and circumstances rather than on the propriety of Constitutional provision itself.

The state laws pertaining to government intervention in temples, even if emanating from Constitutional provisions, need to be debated and reviewed by the apex court, keeping in view the ways and means deployed by the state to throw out autonomous management and administrators.

The government claims to be acting for the interests of the Hindus, but the truth is, it is actually acting out of self-interest and against the interests of those it claims to be protecting.

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Media Fail to Reflect Hindu Hurt

by Narad

The arrest and subsequent incarceration of the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswati has understandably evoked editorial attention in the English media but througout all the hundreds of words written on the subject runs the refrain that the law must take its course. An event such as the arrest of a Shankaracharya interestingly enough, is the first in the annals of the rule of law. The Chennai-based The Hindu, most likely most concerned-since the event took place in Tamil Nadu-while giving the full background to the arrest and the reason for it in some detail, nevertheless pointed out that "no public presumption of guilt should be made at this stage". The paper sharply pointed out that another ex-acolyte of the Kanchi mutt had in the past also been subjected to a murderous knife attack though, in that case the police seemed to run into a political wall after gaining initial clues. Said the editorial (13 November): "Devotees of the Kanchi mutt are understandably upset.

The Bangalore-based Deccan Herald (November 16) said that while the dismay and disbelief of the supporters and admirers of the pontiff are easy to understand, "it must also be realised that the issue involved is not one of faith but of the due process of law". It is very unfortunate, said the paper, that a highly respected religious institution with centuries of spiritual tradition has been involved in such a sordid controversy, but, it added, "it is necessary to look beyond the immediate shock and dismay to place the matter in perspective". Like almost every other paper, Deccan Herald said that the investigation should be allowed a free run and the law should be allowed to take its natural course. Maintaining that it will be unwise to politicise the issue, the paper said that "the best service that can be done is to let the investigation and the judicial process to move forward to their logical conclusion".

The Kolkata-based The Telegraph (November 15) noted that the turn of events is "quite startling" and suggested that the manner in which the arrest was made, etc. points to the possibility that the electoral drubbing that Smt. Jayalalithaa received after her tie-up with the BJP "may have forced her to look for ways to re-build an anti-Brahmin image". The paper said that the arrest could have been made after Diwali and added: "Indians love to assault the dignity of the powerful once they are down and police procedures aid the that tendency. The public presumption of guilt precedes the court case. It is not only unjust, it is also distracting and damaging to the neutral ambience of judgement". The Mumbai-based The Free Press Journal (November 16) said that the arrest and jailing of the Shankaracharya "is proof of the fact that the rule of law prevails in the country and no one, however exalted he may be in the community, is above law".

The Times of India (November 17) had some strange ideas. It referred to the Vatican as having both temporal as well as spiritual powers and went on to suggest that the four pithas set up by Adi Shankaracharya-at Badrinath, Puri, Sringeri and Dwarka-should also become independent states, as should also Bodh Gaya and the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. Said the paper: "By creating Vaticans of many religions, we will merely acknowledge what is true, that small is beautiful and elective identities-and faiths-often matter more than political constructs." But only the paper knows what they have got to do with the charges against the pontiff.

The Sunday Statesman (November 14) wrote about the dozen conspiracy theories and said that considering that Tamil politics is more bitter and vicious than the average Indian variety, it would be foolish to dismiss these hypothesis. However, it said: "But no amount of cynicism affects the fact that on the surface, the Shankaracharya case looks like one of those rare occasions of the establishment allowing the law to run its course."

The paper made the point that governments find it difficult or sometimes impossible to intervene even when prima facie evidence of impropriety emerges.

That, said the paper is as true of India as in the West. Islamic countries, it added, "do not even admit the theoretical possibility of correcting the behaviour of the men of God". It adds: "But a secular, mature country must have the institutional strength, when it is necessary, to call those who speak in the name of God to account."

And for good measure it further said: "But it could be asked, could the law go as far with religious leaders of the minority community-that, too, is a test of secularism."

Incidentally The Statesman also carried a front-page story a day earlier that pointed out that Tamil Nadu "has more than its share of god-men, some of whom have provided fodder to the media with their sordid tales of rape and murder and spicy scandals". What is truly remarkable is that not a single paper has suggested that the pontiff must be let off merely because he happens to be the pontiff. The prevaling sentiment is that the law must take its course and justice must prevail.

And considering that practically every one of the leading English language media editors is a Hindu, it speaks highly of their sense of rectitude. There has been not a single instance of any English daily insisting that the pontiff must be let off or that he has been framed. The Statesman did mention the existence of several theories but that, surely, is only for the record. Incidentally The Statesman was about the only paper which took a dim view of the manner in which Chandraswami was let off in the St. Kitts forgery case. "The CBI," said the paper (October 29), "has this fantastic inability to nail anyone prominent in public life" and pointed out how the Hawala case accused were all acquitted as were those chargesheeted in the JMM bribery scandal. It seems unlikely, however, that in the case of the Kanchi pontiff there will be any move to let him off.

Whatever her motive, nobody can now charge her of being merely anti-minorities-and perhaps that is precisely the message she wants to send to the country at large.

Cry, my beloved India

by Francois Gautier

January 21, 2005

I am a Westerner and a born Christian, but even I am ashamed at what is happening in India since Sonia Gandhi, a Westerner and Christian, became the de facto ruler of this ancient and extraordinary country of 850 million Hindus and 125 million Muslims.

Something terrible is happening here. On the one hand, you have the shankaracharya, one of the most respected Hindu leaders, arrested like a criminal on one of Hinduism's most sacred days, even as politicians who have more corruption cases against them than anybody else and others who may even have blood on their hands are made ministers and strut around with security guards in tow.

The tarnishing of the Kanchi mutt's image is nearly complete. Will it ever be able to recover its sanctity, even if the shankacharya is found not guilty?

On the other hand you see a quack like Benny Hinn, who has no standing even in the United States, come openly to India, a country with an overwhelming Hindu majority, to deride idol worship and paganism and convert the poor and the gullible. We see ministers, ex-prime ministers even -- many of them Hindus at that -- coming to the Benny Hinn show, with heads bowed and hands folded like beggars asking for the white man's grace. We see the entire state machinery of Karnataka put at the evangelist's service and laws subverted so he can conduct his fake show.

We see how when 36 innocent women and children were burnt alive in the most horrible manner in Godhra, for no reason other than being Hindus, there is no respect for their memory even, for the truth is now twisted for political purposes with the help of India's Marxists who want Hinduism's death. What a shame!

Hindus are always accused of all the ills and intolerance, but where in the world will you find a Christian supreme leader in a country where there are only 3 per cent Christians, a Sikh prime minister where there are only 2 per cent Sikhs and a Muslim President with only 10 per cent Muslims? Poor Hindus.

This is an insult to India's culture, greatness and intelligence What is even more saddening is the passivity of Indians in the face of what is happening. Only a few voices have been raised in these moments of insanity. India's curse is the disunity among Hindus, their infighting. One is surprised at the lack of reaction even from India's top Hindu spiritual leaders Satya Sai Baba, Mata Amritanandamayi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Together they hold sway over at least 400 million Hindus. Why don't they form a Supreme Spiritual Conclave along with the shankaracharya? They only have to utter the word and it will be done. But there is disunity even among them.

We are not ashamed of the Christian culture in France; even the American president is sworn in on the Bible. Nor, certainly, is the Congress, which is incapable of finding a worthy Indian leader among its own members, many of whom are intelligent and sincere. By stooping to Sonia Gandhi, they repeated the same old story of India's princes and maharajas betraying each other and bowing before a foreign ruler, be it Aurangzeb or His Majesty's Viceroy. Who betrayed the mighty Vijayanagar empire, the last great Hindu kingdom, to the Muslims? Who betrayed India to the British? Who is betraying India today?

But at least the Congress is true to its ideals. The biggest culprit must be Mr A B Vajpayee who in five years of power did nothing but project a Gandhian image, rather than having India's interests at heart. He and his advisers should stand trial when history is written.

The beauty of it all is that Sonia Gandhi does not have to say or do anything. She does not have to instruct the Tamil Nadu police to arrest the shankaracharya or tell Chief Minister Dharam Singh of Karnataka to attend Benny Hinn's show. Just being where she is, at the top of India's political hierarchy, is enough to ensure that her silent wishes are fulfilled. Everybody is bending over backwards to please her, even anticipating her wishes!

The Benny Hinn show points to not only a renewed effort at Christianisation of India -- something which even the British and the Portuguese could not do -- and a targeting of Hindu spiritual leaders, but also the westernisation of the subcontinent.

It would mean the loss of India's ancient culture, the loss of its unique identity, with India becoming just another nation cloning the West. Even the Muslims and Christians of India, who are like no other Christians and Muslims in the world, would lose something.

Today I feel sad, sad for India, sad for the world. For India is in mortal danger, its eternal Sanatana Dharma is under threat. And if India dies spiritually, the world will also die.

Cry O my beloved India, look what thy children have done to thee.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Acharya to remain in Kalavai for some more time

VELLORE, JAN. 22. The Brindhavanam of the 66th and 67th Acharyas of the Sankara Mutt at Kalavai in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu will be the headquarters of the Sankara Mutt and the abode of the senior Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, for some more time. The Acharya, who was arrested in the Sankararaman murder case and the Radhakrishnan assault case, is staying in the Kalavai Brindavanam and performing the `trikala' (thrice a day) puja for Chandramouliswara, the presiding deity of the Mutt, ever since he was released on bail from the Central Prison here on January 11.

According to sources close to the Mutt, the Sankaracharya is not inclined to move back to Kancheepuram despite the filing of the charge sheet in the Sankararaman murder case on Friday. (One of the conditions stipulated in the January 10 Supreme Court order granting bail to Sri Jayendra Saraswathi in the Sankararaman murder case was that he should not enter the Sankara Mutt at Kancheepuram till the submission of the charge sheet in the court). The absence of the junior Acharya, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, and the Kanchi Mutt Manager, Sundaresa Iyer, both of whom are in the Central Prison, Chennai, having been arrested in the Sankararaman murder case, has created a void in the Kanchi Mutt. Several administrative reforms had to be undertaken and "several loose ends tied" before Sri Jayendra Saraswathi could move to the Kancheepuram Mutt, the sources said.

According to them, the question of the Acharya shifting his abode does not arise because the place where he camps and does the `trikala' pujas is the headquarters of the Sankara Mutt for all practical purposes.

Security was stepped up at Kalavai before the arrival of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi with the posting of 16 private securitymen.

In the wake of the freezing of most of the Mutt accounts, devotees within the country and abroad have contributed sufficient funds to enable the Mutt administration to go on without hindrance. Devotees are even prepared to construct new buildings for the Kalavai Mutt but the Acharya is believed to have expressed the desire for temporary structures.

Public money squandered: Swamy

By Our Staff Reporter

TIRUCHI, JAN. 22. The Tamil Nadu Government is squandering public money by pursuing a ``false case'' against the Sankaracharyas of the Kanchi Mutt, the Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy, alleged here today.

Referring to the ``special prayers'' offered at the Varadharajaperumal temple by the investigating officers of the Sankararaman murder case before filing the chargesheet on Friday, Dr. Swamy wondered whether it was not a violation of the secular ethos that the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, said she was upholding.

He said that absolving the building contractor, Ravi Subramaniam, of all charges as he had turned approver was an ``unprecedented act in the legal history.''

Dr. Swamy said that public officials who made arrests in false cases could be prosecuted under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code.

On the Justice U.C. Banerjee Committee report on the Godhra carnage, Dr. Swamy said the report had come as a ``contempt of the judicial process'' instead of healing wounds. It was incorrect to say that the cause of the fire was within, as the bogeys were supposed to be fire-resistant. He alleged that inflammable fluids had been used to set the bogey on fire.

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Hindu religion in danger in TN: Bitta

Kalavai (TN), Jan 23: Condemning the action taken against Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswathi, former Youth Congress president M S Bitta today said it was an attack against Hindu religion.

Bitta, who arrived here this morning, told reporters that "political terrorism was now being used against religious heads. This was not a healthy trend."

When asked whether he had come with any message from the Congress, Bitta replied in the negative. "You may think I have come as a Congress leader or as the head of the Anti-Terrorism Front (ATF), but I have come here as a devotee. I am a bhakta of the Sankaracharya."

Bitta who talked to the media after spending over half an hour inside the mutt, said he was yet to meet the Sankaracharya as the seer was doing his puja. Bitta said he would wait and talk to the seer.

Stating that he was first person to protest against the arrest of the seer, Bitta said he would decide on the future strategy of the ATF on the issue after talking to the seer.

he said though he wanted to meet Sankaracharya much earlier, he could not do so because of the demise of former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao.

Since he comes under the Z-plus category, police had made tight security arrangements and were allowing the devotees inside the mutt after screening them.

Earlier, speaking to reporters at Kanchi mutt at Kancheepuram, Bitta said religion was in danger in Tamil nadu.

Denying charges from a section that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was behind the arrest of Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi, he said the Centre could not intervene in this as that would be an interference in the state's affairs.

He said the freezing of mutt accounts among other things would not kill the mutt. The seer could brave any 'freezing' and withstand chill and cold, he quipped.

He was received at the ashram by mutt manager Pollachi Mahadeva Iyer. Bitta stood in silence for a while in front of the samadhi of Mahaswami Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi before leaving for Kalavai. (Agencies)

Published: Sunday, January 23, 2005

Action against seer an attack against Hindu religion: Bitta

[India News]: Kalavai, Jan 23 : Condemning the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, former youth Congress President M S Bitta today said it was an attack against Hindu religion.

Bitta, who arrived here this morning, told reporters that 'political terrorism was now being used against religious heads. This was not a healthy trend'.

When asked whether he had come with any message from the Congress, Bitta replied in the negative. 'You may think I have come as a Congress leader or as the head of the Anti-Terrorism Front (ATF) but I have come here as a devotee. I am a bhakta of Sankaracharya'.

Bitta, who spoke to the media after spending over half an hour inside the mutt, said he was yet to meet the Sankaracharya as the seer was doing his puja. Bitta said he would wait and talk to the seer.

Claiming that he was the first person to protest against the arrest of the seer, Bitta said he would decide on the future strategy of the ATF on the issue after talking to the seer.

Bitta said though he wanted to meet Sankaracharya much ealier, he could not do so because of the demise of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. PTI

Brahmins to stage protest against acquisition of Udupi Mutt

MANGALORE, DHNS:

The Administrative officer of Sharavu Sree Maha Ganapathi Temple Raghavendra Shastry warned the State government that the Brahmin community would stage a protest if the government takes any decision to acquire the Udupi Mutt.

Speaking after inaugurating the �Vipravijaya-80� programme organised under the aegis of Dravida Brahmin Association and Dakshin Kannada District Brahmin Parishat in Mangalore on Sunday, Shastry called upon the brahmin community leaders to fight against the State government�s decision to appoint Administrator for Udupi Mutt.

Criticising the move of government, Shastry said that the job of government is towards administration of the State and not towards the functioning of Mutts and added that the community leaders should collectively fight against any action taken against the community.

Meanwhile, Srinivas Group of college President A Raghavendra Rao declared that he would extend all support to the brahmin association in this regard.

Karnataka Bank Chairman Anantkrishna was presented with �Viprajaana� award by Shastry on the ocassion. Mr Anantkrishna said that the Bank has given employment opportunities to the community people and this should be continued in future for the betterment of living conditions of the people.

Janahita Seva Trust President P L Upadhyay, Dakshin Kannada District Dravida Brahmin Parishat President Y Ramesh Bhat, vice-president P S Rao, Secretary Dr Raghavendra Bhat, Dravida Brahmin Association President Ramanand Pangal, Secretary H R Gurucharan were among those present.

Acharya's bail: Sarsanghachalak expresses happiness

K.S. Sudarshan

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 demonic forces, their Holiness have stood like a rock, taking upon themselves all the fury of the vicious persecution carried on by these forces in an 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 face, I have no doubt that the entire Hindu samaj will stand by the Acharyas.

There is a saying in Hindi that there may be delay in Almighty’s court but ultimately only truth prevails. Their Holiness have emerged from this agni pariksha like shining pure gold. Please accept our respectful pranams.

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

RSS spokesman Madhav meets Kanchi Seer in Kalavai

RSS spokesman Madhav meets Kanchi Seer in Kalavai
Sunday, January 23 2005 20:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) spokesman Ram Madhav today (Jan 23, 2005) met Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati at Kalavai where the Seer has been camping since his release on bail on January 10.

During the hour-long meeting, Madhav is understood to have "clarified" RSS Chief K S Sudarshan's remarks last week, which sparked off speculation about the possible appointment of a third Shankaracharya.

The RSS spokesman attributed the misunderstanding to the "misinterpretation by the media" about Sudarshan's remarks, Sangh sources said.

Through a statement after Sudarshan's meeting with the Kanchi Seer last week, the RSS had categorically said that the appointment of the Shankaracharya was an internal matter of the Mutt and RSS had no role in it.

Madhav is also believed to have discussed the latest developments with regard to the various cases against the two Shankaracharyas and Kanchi Mutt officials.

Insult to Hindus will only weaken India, warns RSS

Sunday, January 23 2005 20:23 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhopal: Alleging attempts to humiliate Hindu Seers and create controversies regarding religious sites, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) today (Jan 23, 2005) warned that insult to members of the majority community would only weaken the country.

"Religious places in Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi have been pulled into controversies ... And now our religious gurus and Seers are being humiliated," RSS Prant Pracharak for Central India, Arun Jain, said at a meeting after an impressive march past (Path Sanchalan) held in Bhopal.

Claiming that Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati was falsely charged in a murder case, he said the Seer has not only helped the poor and helpless but also made immense contribution towards spread of education. Those worried because of the Seer's contributions have slapped a false case, he alleged.

Describing Hindus as tolerant and law abiding with full faith in the legal system, Jain said, "One day it will be proved that Shankaracharya is innocent."

Alleging that the erstwhile Soviet Union disintegrated after increase in Muslim population there, he said Hindus should not be allowed to become weak in India and the country's unity and integrity must be safeguarded.

Jain claimed that attempts were made to drag today's path sanchalan into controversies though it was an annual programme aimed at expanding the base of the Sangh.

Swayamsevaks from 645 localities of Bhopal participated in the march past, held under tight security.

Saturday, January 22, 2005

“We are innocents, truth will come out”

Press Trust Of India, January 19, 2005

Vijayendra Saraswathi Kancheepuram, January 19: The junior pontiff of Kanchi mutt Vijayendra Saraswathi today said there was not even one per cent truth in the charge of involvement of the senior acharya Jayendra Saraswathi and himself in the murder of the temple official Sankararaman.

“This case has not even one per cent of truth. With the help of god, elders and sages, we will come through this present crisis of bad name and bad times," he told reporters after he was remanded to judicial custody till January 24.

"Stand united and strive for the excellence of the samaj," he said as he was boarding a police van. He also addressed the people, who had thronged outside the magistrate court, for the first time since he was arrested on January 10.

He said the youth of India and abroad were all praying and striving hard for the well-being of mankind. "All will be well soon by god's grace and these bad times will end," he said while referring to the Sankararaman murder case

Earlier, after completion of one day's detention in police custody, the junior seer was produced before first class judicial magistrate G. Uthamaraj who remanded him to judicial custody till January 24.

Vijayendra's counsel Y Thygarajan requested the magistrate to order for ayurvedic treatment to the seer as he was suffering from pain in the neck. The magistrate asked him to file a petition for this purpose.

Meanwhile, the Chengalpattu sessions court adjourned the hearing on the bail plea of Vijayendra to January 25, following a request from the prosecution.

Judge S. Vanagamudi also adjourned the bail petitions of Raghu, brother of Vijayendra Saraswathi and mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer, to that day. The prosecution sought time to enable Supreme Court senior advocate K.T.S. Tulsi to appear on its behalf.

TN Govt. showing undue interest in Mutt cases: BJP

Newstodaynet.com, NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 18:

The BJP today hit back at Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on the Kanchi Sankaracharyas arrest issue, accusing her government of showing 'undue interest' in the case and refuting her charge that the party was trying to gain political mileage from it.

Posing a list of 11queries before the Chief Minister on the arrest of the Acharyas, in a statement here, BJP national secretary L Ganesan said, the BJP had never held religious leaders above law.

'But those who advocate the policy that 'all are equal before law', have never applied it in the case of leaders of other faiths'.

Describing the remarks made by Jayalalithaa as those borne out of 'extreme anger', Ganesan refuted her charge that the BJP leaders had been raising the Kanchi Mutt issue only with a view to rehabilitating their party.

'The BJP is not in such a condition. The party has taken up the issue not for political mileage but on ideological basis'.

The 11 queries:
  • What was the urgency to arrest Sri Jayendra Saraswati?
  • What was the necessity to rush the police to Andhra Pradesh?
  • Was the midnight arrest necessary?
  • What was the significance of selecting Deepavali day to arrest the Seer?
  • Was it to prevent the Seer from getting bail as the four days next to Deepavali were Court holidays?,
  • Was the description of Seer as a 'criminal' by the Public Prosecutor was the opinion of the PP or the government ?
  • If the government's objective was to bring to book culprits involved in a murder case, why was the probe centred around 'money'?
  • If the arrest of the Seer was a 'painful one', why was a senior lawyer flown in from Delhi to argue the case?
  • Why the 'character assassination campaign' to malign the image of the Kanchi Mutt?
  • How were the video clippings taken during the police interrogation leaked to the media ?
  • Why was Sri Vijayendra Saraswati arrested without giving him an opportunity tomeet his Guru ?
While all other parties had supported the arrest of Kanchi Seers, the BJP had opposed it to show that the Kanchi Mutt, a symbol of Hinduism, was not bereft of support.

Even if the party would have had to lose politically by taking up the issue, it would have done so without hesitation, Ganesan asserted.

Referring to the remark made by Jayalalithaa in November that the decision to arrest the Kanchi Acharya was a 'painful one', Ganesan said now she had shifted her stand and begun to describe it as her achievement.

Thousands of questions remained unanswered in the minds of the people of the State on the arrest, Ganesan said and posed 11 queries which, he said, the Chief Minister had failed to clarify in her recent statement.

‘Case against Acharya fabricated by her police’: Subramanian Swamy

The Janata Party president, Subramanian Swamy, says he will prosecute the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, if her Government loses the case against the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswati.

Talking to newspersons here after meeting the Acharya at Kalavai on Thursday, Dr. Swamy said that a perusal of Ms. Jayalalithaa’s detailed statement in response to the criticism of her handling of the Sankararaman murder case (in which Sri Jayendra Saraswati has been arrested and is out on bail) and the Supreme Court orders on his bail petition “revealed that the case is weak and fabricated.”

He wanted the Government to desist from filing the charge sheet in the case and even withdraw it.

S. M. Pasha, president of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Makkal Katchi who met the Shankaracharya in Kalavai, told the newspersons that a memorandum would be submitted on behalf of Muslims to the Governor, Surjit Singh Barnala, in Chennai on Friday, opposing any move to take over the ancient Shankara Math.

Daily routine of the Acharya continues unhindered at Kalavai

Vedic mantras and the fragrance of incense greet visitors at the entrance of the hall where Kanchi Acharya performs his daily poojas at the Kalavai Math. He is carrying on with hi s routines uninterrupted since his arrival last week after being released on bail. He begins his daily routine with an early morning pooja, even as devotees line up behind a curtain in the hall, waiting for his darshan. As the devotees wait patiently, some reverentially chant the name of the pontiff and others talk about the case against him in a hushed tone. Some devotees go emotionally when they tell their prayers for the pontiff’s release. A woman said,” I fasted on 11 days and only after that he was sent out on bail.” Another claims, “I had gone on a padayatra to religious places.” Some were simply overwhelmed by the pontiff’s presence. When the pooja gets overt at 2 pm, the devotees queue up to seek the blessings of the senior pontiff. As they introduce themselves, the pontiff acknowledges their greetings and distributes “Prasad”. Some devotees are allowed to exchange notes with him after the regular darshan.

With the poojas and darshans happening on one side, the Vedic school started by the Acharya himself operates in a small open enclosure outside the room where the seer sits. More than 20 students recite mantras, and at times the pontiff himself oversees the class. The Math slips into silence late afternoon, only to stir into a lot of bustle towards evening when poojas and other rituals resume. It is as if the mounting troubles in the material world have not hampered the spiritual quest within the four walls of the Shankara Math here.

Hindu Maths in Tamil Nadu, in grave trouble

(Paraphrased and compiled from various sources including “The New Indian Express, Jan. 21, 05.)

In the wake of usurpation of the Kumbakonan Math, comes the news that the Administrator, Uttaradhi Sri Vaishnava Math, Kanchipuram branch, has been done away with. The Math has its headquarters in Bihar. Srinivasachari (45) had been running the Math with the meager sum realized from agriculture and helped pilgrims from the north, who came to the Math for overnight stay.

Assailants entered the 150-year-old Math, behind the Kanchi Varadarajaswamy Temple, and attacked Shrinivasacharya on the head with a blunt weapon and then stabbed him while he was asleep on a cot close to the main door. He died on the spot.

The Math has nearly 15 acres of cultivable lands in Nathapet village and Thenampakkam. Income from those lands not only sustained the Math, but also helped it to feed the pilgrims visiting Kanchi temples. Shrinivasacharya who was a religious person often sought police help. He could have invited the wrath of the assailants in connection with the Math lands, the neighbors said.

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The Kumbakonan Math usurped by Jayalalithaa’s government

In his writ petition, Sri Saranga Desikendra Swamigal, the forcefully ousted Mathadhipathi of Kumbakonan Math, contended that the Govt. of Tamil Nadu (HR & CE officials) had usurped the Math’s administration. The action was illegal, void and violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the constitution, he said. When the writ petition from the Kumbakonan Math seeking to restrain the government of Tamil Nadu from interfering with the management of the Math by the present Mathadhipathi and consequently for a direction to remove the authorities concerned from the Math premises came up before the High Court today, the Tamil Nadu Government agreed to restore the possession of the Math to its present Madathipathi. The appointment of a ‘fit’ person was also cancelled.

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Tension over Kamakshi temple takeover

Tension prevailed at Maravar Chavadi in South gate in this city as the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) officials tried to takeover "Sri Kamakshi Ekambareswarar temple", belonging to the Viswakarma Community on wednesday. According to officials, the temple was to be brought under the control of the Koodal Alagar temple devasthanam. Police said tension mounted as people belonging to the community squatted inside the temple and refused to allow the HR and CE Officials inside. The officials said they had ordered for the takeover of the temple in 1991 itself. However, the temple officials had obtained a stay against it. Now the High court had vacated the stay, and hence they were taking control of the temple, they added.

TN invokes Goonda Act against junior seer's brother, mutt manager

TN invokes Goonda Act against junior seer's brother, mutt manager

Press Trust Of India
Posted online: Saturday, January 22, 2005 at 1239 hours IST

Kancheepuram, January 22: The Special Investigating Team probing the Sankararaman murder case on Saturday detained jailed junior pontiff Vijayendra Saraswathi's brother R Raghu and Kanchi mutt manager Sundaresa Iyer under the Goonda Act, a day after chargesheet was filed against the two Kanchi Shankaracharyas in the case.

Already the SIT had detained eight others Kathiravan, Chinna, Ambikapathy, Mattu Basker, Meenakshi Sundaram, Anand Kumar, Anil Kumar and K S Kumar under the Act, taking the total number of detainees to 10, police said.

A total of 24 persons, including Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi have been arrested in connection with the Sankararaman murder case. Jayendra was enlarged on bail on January 10 last.

Initially there were 25 accused, but after one of the accused Ravi Subramaniam desired to become an approver, he has become a prosecution witness.

The provisions of the Goonda Act are invoked on those, who have a series of cases against them. In police parlance only "habitual offenders" are detained under the Act.

Those detained under the Act cannot seek bail but could approach a review committee for relief after three months of their detention. The detenues could then approach the committee through his advocate to challenge his detention.

The investigating officer has to produce before the committee all the relevant documents.

If the committee felt that the detention was not legal, they could order the release of the detenues.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Turmoil outside, seer at peace with himself - Newindpress.com

Friday January 21 2005 00:00 IST

KALAVAI: Vedic mantras and the fragrance of incense greet visitors at the entrance of the hall where Kanchi acharya Jayendra Saraswati performs his daily poojas at the Kalavai Mutt.

He is carrying on with his pooja routines uninterrupted since his arrival last week after being released on bail from the Vellore prison, inquiries reveal.

He begins his daily routine with an early morning pooja, even as devotees line up behind a curtain in the hall, waiting for his darshan.

Though the hall is situated inside the ‘Brindavanam’, the place where the samadhis’ of the 66th pontiff Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi and 67th pontiff Sri Mahadevendra Saraswathi are located, the senior pontiff does not perform poojas to their samadhis.

‘‘According to the Mutt rules, a separate priest has been appointed for that purpose and even when senior pontiffs visit this place, they can only offer flowers but cannot perform regular poojas at the samadhis,’’ Mutt workers say.

Jayendrar restricts himself to the ‘thrikala poojas’ to the idol of Chandramouleeswarar, brought from the Kanchi Mutt. As the devotees wait patiently, some reverentially chant the name of the pontiff and others talk about the case against him in a hushed tone.

Some devotees go emotional when they tell their prayers for the pontiff’s release. A woman devotee said,‘‘I fasted for 11 days and only after that he was sent out on bail.’’ Another claims, ‘‘I had gone on a padayatra to religious places.’’ Some were simply overwhelmed by the pontiff’s presence.

When the pooja gets over at 2 pm, the devotees queue up to seek the blessings of the senior pontiff.

As they introduce themselves, the pontiff acknowledges their greetings and distributes *prasad*. Some devotees are allowed to exchange notes with him after the ‘regular’ darshan.

With the poojas and darshans happenig on one side, the vedic school started by Jayendrar himself operates in a small open enclosure outside the room where the seer sits. More than 20 students recite mantras, and at times the pontiff himself oversees the class. The Mutt slips into silence late afternoon, only to stir into a lot of bustle towards evening when poojas and other rituals resume.

It is as if the mounting troubles in the material world have not hampered the spiritual quest within the four walls of the Shankara Mutt here.

Co-Accused Testifies Against Kanchi Shankaracharya

Source

KANCHEEPURAM, INDIA, January 20, 2005: (HPI note: In granting the senior Shankaracharya bail, the India Supreme Court specifically said the testimony of co-accused in a case was not of much value unless supported by independent evidence, which they concluded did not yet exist in convincing form in this case.)

The Tamil Nadu police investigating the Shankaraman murder case today received a big shot in the arm. Ravi Subramaniam, a key accused in the case has turned approver (that is, will testify for the prosecution in hopes of reduced sentence) and is said to have implicated both the Kanchi seers in the murder conspiracy. According to sources, Ravi Subramaniam has given the Chengalpet Court details of the motive for the murder. He has also revealed details of how the two seers hatched the conspiracy to eliminate Shankaraman. The Kanchi Mutt has not reacted to what the police say is a big breakthrough. Police sources however, claim it was the confessional statement of Ravi Subramaniam before the Kancheepuram Magistrate that led to the arrest of the junior pontiff, Vijayendra Saraswati. For turning approver, the building contractor may hope to receive some kind of pardon from the courts but his version of the crime will have to be corroborated by other evidence that will come up during the trial.

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Jayalalithaa's outrage on Kanchi mutt

Angry Hindus demand dismissal
By R. Balashankar

With the catholicity of a crusader, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa has unleashed a witch-hunt against the sacred Hindu abode, the Kanchi mutt. It is an all out war on the mutt, manipulated and orchestrated through rumour mongering and hired electronic channels going beyond the simple investigations of a murder charge. Every day a new canard of calumny is put out only to let it die after a few days for want of substance.

Nobody other than the vested interests today suspect the innocence of the Kanchi Acharya, His Holiness Jayendra Saraswati.

She has even appointed a new DGP, A.X. Alexander, and a new Home Commissioner, Syed Muneer Hoda, to carry on with the dubious job, transferring all the officials who were so far investigating the Shankararaman murder case.

There is no sin on this earth that Jayalalithaa has not committed. Like the Ravana, nay Shoorpanakha, her ultimate sin is the heinous attack on the holy men, the holy shrine, the Kanchi mutt, with a tradition of 2,500 years, which is hallowed as the last blessed abode of Adi Shankara. Jayalalithaa is corrupt, lawless, unprincipled, without scruples, tyrannical and despotic suffering from avarice of power and wealth. Her talking of law taking its natural course is like a demon reciting the scripture; she ought to have said that vendetta has taken a full course.

Her selection of officials with a peculiar minority tag is devious. For, the country has a tradition of officials acting impartially during their discharge of duty. But it smacks of her vicious motive, the desire to send out a message louder than the deed. For whom is she stooping so low?

Technically speaking, this is no occasion to go into the legal merits of the charges. In Supreme Court the allegation fell apart like a pack of pebbles; she now has to reconstruct it all over again.

Jaya's selection of officials with a peculiar minority tag is devious. For, the country has a tradition of officials acting impartially during their discharge of duty. But it smacks of her vicious motive: the desire to send out a message louder than the deed.

The scene is worse than that of embittered Shoorpanakha in the court of Ravana. The release of the Acharya on bail has petrified her so much that she doesn’t want him to stay in Chennai. She wants him to be transported to north India with court direction—look at the contradiction!

For two months the argument was that the Acharya was running away to some foreign land—away from Tamil Nadu to Nepal, that his following is very limited—only 3 per cent of the population in Tamil Nadu, that too a divided set of Brahmins all of whom are anyway not his devotees; and now, that his presence in Tamil Nadu will influence the witnesses and the prosecution. How fantastic? An autocrat Chief Minister like Jayalalithaa, who has all the resources at her command, saying this.

Kanchi Acharya’s authority is his moral strength. It is not his possessions, position or power. It is the moral strength of a saintly person that troubles the tyrant ruler. We have seen more powerful persons, Chief Ministers, former Prime Ministers, accused of criminal charges—but not a demand like the one Jayalalithaa has made ever been expressed— that the presence of the accused in the state will derail the prosecution. Is it the immorality of the accusations that have frightened her of the very existence of the Acharya? Or is it the agony of a Lady Macbeth, whose sins all the waters of the ocean cannot wash?

Jaya is hopping mad at the Supreme Court slap

She has managed to do what the Muslim invaders and the British could not do for centuries. She has broken a 2,500-year old worship ritual ‘trikal puja’ in the Kanchipuram mutt.

The air was thick near the Kanchi mutt with the smell of crackers bursted and incense offered at the news of the release of the mutt’s senior Acharya, His Holiness Shri Jayendra Saraswati by the order of the Supreme Court on January 10. The Tamil Nadu police muzzled in, forcing their way into the mutt to arrest the surprised younger Acharya of the mutt, His Holiness Shri Vijayendra Saraswati. The people who had gathered were at a loss to understand as to why the police was arresting him on the same charges in which the elder Acharya had just been released on bail. Worse, the mutt would now be truly headless with both the Acharyas forced out.

Seriously, the crime that the Tamil Nadu government has committed is beyond pardon. It is not an individual or two she has sinned against. She has sinned against the conscience of a people for whom the mutt and its Acharyas are venerable. The Chief Minister, who paraded herself as a believing, practicing Hindu a few months ago, sacrificed the faith of millions at the altar of political expediency. What benefits other than the vote bank would she get is best answered by her. Even the most ardent of her supporters are unable to explain the ultimate high-handedness of the Tamil Nadu police in arresting Shri Vijayendra Saraswati within a few hours of the release on bail of the senior Acharya. Particularly after the apex court passed serious strictures against the state government and its police.

Her ultimate sin is the heinous attack on the holy men, the holy shrine, the Kanchi mutt, with a tradition of 2,500 years, which is hallowed as the last blessed abode of Adi Shankara. Jayalalithaa is corrupt, lawless, unprincipled, without scruples, tyrannical and despotic suffering from avarice of power and wealth. Her talking of law taking its natural course is like a demon reciting the scripture.

For the first time since the bizarre charge and the arrest of the senior Acharya, the law spoke in favour of the Acharya. Till now, it had been a one-sided story with both the local and the Chennai High Court repeating the prosecution’s case and concurring. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice G.P. Mathur, and Justice P. P. Naolekar (January 10, 2005) concurred with the petitioner’s (the Acharya) counsel, F.S. Nariman. In the ruling on the bail application, the court said, “No worthwhile prima facie evidence apart from the alleged confessions have been brought to our notice to show that the petitioner along with the two accused was party to a conspiracy…it does not appeal to reason that he suddenly decided to have had Sankararaman murdered and entered into a conspiracy for the said purpose.”

The Supreme Court also found the prosecution’s witnesses, who were outsiders and not mutt officials, unacceptable. It is unlikely, it said, that the Acharya would speak about the commissioning of murder at such a time and place where his talks could be heard by total strangers.

Obviously the Jayalalithaa government and her police did not proceed on the case on any legal merit. They wanted the case to be fought in the media and decided by the anti-Hindu writings and cheap whispers. In that they had nearly succeeded. The print and electronic media in Tamil competed with each other in running down the Acharya and the mutt. If one were to begin listing cases of ‘maligning reputation’, it would involve almost all the print and electronic media in Tamil. Leading the list would be the lady's own Jaya TV and Karunanidhi’s Sun TV.

The prosecution’s case first said they had traced withdrawal of money from ICICI Bank to carry out the murder. The bank record showed nothing. Then it said of a land sale to finance the crime. Again records said the money had indeed been deposited within a week of the land sale. The police had initially waved some account number in ICICI Bank, which it later withdrew. Then the police came up with the attempt to murder charge against the Acharya in two other cases. The original case was left hanging. Just like spinning a Tamil movie formula, a woman element was introduced in the form of one Usha, with whom the Acharya was supposed to have been close. The police declared her as absconding. The woman herself went to the police and said she had received monetary help from the mutt for her cancer treatment.

That’s when the well-known Tamil writer came out with her ‘shocking’ story of ‘misconduct’ by the Acharya. Anuradha Raman, considered by some as progressive, bold and outspoken, claimed that she was keeping the incident a secret. One would have expected a woman like her to speak out if any offence had been committed against her. The Kanchi mutt, by now deeply anguished by such third-rate cooked up scandals, released photographs of Anuradha Raman at a function at the mutt as recent as last year, which indicated that she was not ‘suffering’ as she claimed.

The Kanchi mutt enjoys a status in the Hindu society, which few other such institutions can claim. The mutt is involved in activities that are spiritual, religious and social. The amount of social work the mutt sponsors is rather huge. And whenever social issues challenging the Hindu society have come up, the Acharyas have responded to them, both religiously and spiritually. At a time when most Hindu organisations were shocked into inaction over the mass conversions in Meenakshipuram, the Kanchi mutt initiated a travelling temple programme, in which consecrated images of gods and goddesses were sent to Harijan bastis. If they cannot come to the temple, the temples should go to them, was the philosophy.

Paramacharya, the revered Chandrashekharendra Saraswati, not directly getting involved in the freedom movement—it being a political issue—had rendered support to the cause. He began wearing khadi material, which sent a definite signal to the Hindu society, which looked upon him as an incarnation. During Emergency, when Indira Gandhi went to meet him, the Paramacharya was in maunavrata (observing silence), indicating his reaction to the oppressive regime.

It is as part of a calculated slander campaign that a section of the media is describing the mutt as having limited appeal to the Brahmins, who constitute only 3 per cent of the voting population in Tamil Nadu. The Kanchi mutt exercises far more religious and spiritual influence among the Hindus there. It is this fear of the mutt’s influence that is behind the conspiracy to defame it. We need not go into the motives of Jayalalithaa in playing this dangerous, dirty game.

That there is a calculated conspiracy behind the cases is beyond argument. Shankararaman was not the only man murdered in Tamil Nadu in 2004, nor was he a man of such social standing that his murder should attract such attention. The Chief Minister paid Rs 5 lakh to the widow of Shankararaman. Did she offer such largesse to all the widows of Tamil Nadu whose husbands were murdered? In fact in the last month, two high-profile murders, that of Aladi Aruna and an AIADMK MLA, did not move Jayalalithaa. Not a single arrest so far has taken place in these murders. So much for the efficiency of the police in Tamil Nadu! So why did the government constitute a huge team of policemen to investigate this Kanchi murder? Then the series of police leaks in the press, beginning as a whisper campaign against the mutt, culminating in the DMK taking a hard political position over it. The same DMK today is unwilling to support the state government’s action, because it has realised that the case was only a straw figure for scaring away the crows, keen on sharing the vote bank.

Jayalalithaa, not Shankaracharya, is in the dock

By Shyam Khosla

The Supreme Court’s scathing criticism of the prosecution for its failure to provide even a shred of evidence to link the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Swami Jayendra Saraswati, with the Shankaraman murder case has confirmed the popular perception that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa, committed the cardinal sin of implicating a highly respected Hindu icon in the murder case. True, the apex court’s orders and observations relate to the case pertaining to his bail and that the Swami has not so far been exonerated of the charges. That is why it is time for only relief and not celebrations. Given Jayalalithaa’s vindictiveness, the Hindu society will have to wait for long months and years before the holy man is exonerated of the totally unbelievable charges levelled against him. No one, who knows the Swami even remotely, believed when the Tamil Nadu police went to town painting the Shankaracharya black and carried on a malicious campaign of character assassination. In its no-holds-barred slanderous campaign, they even tried to link the holy man with women. Those who committed this sin will have to pay for the damage they caused to the prestige of this highly respected spiritual leader.

The apex court’s order is a slap on the face of the prosecution that had been talking of ‘clinching evidence’ in its possession to prove the Swami’s guilt. In the first place, the court refused to believe that 39 letters, critical of functioning of the mutt, said to be written by the deceased to the Swami, was motive enough for his killing. The court observed that there was no evidence on record to show that the said letters were ever brought to the notice of the petitioner and that he showed any resentment against the deceased. The ‘independent’ witnesses were not employees of the mutt, the court observed and refused to believe that the Shankaracharya would have discussed murder plans in the presence of total strangers. The ‘dying declaration’ produced by the prosecution was no dying declaration. It turned out to be a telephonic talk between the deceased and another person and was not admissible as evidence, the apex court observed. The police version of money having been withdrawn from a bank or received by the mutt as sale of a property to pay to the ‘retainers’ to kill Shanka Raman was torn to pieces by the petitioner’s counsel. The police changed its version time and again that left the prosecution lawyer fumbling for words to explain discrepancies in the case.

The police version of money having been withdrawn from a bank or received by the mutt as sale of a property to pay to the “retainers” to kill Shankaraman was torn to pieces by the petitioner’s counsel. The police changed its version time and again.

The arrest of the Junior Acharya within hours of the release of Swami Jayendra Sarswati on bail leaves no one in doubt that it is a case of pre-meditated vendetta. It also lends credence to the popular belief that the Jayalalithaa’s campaign against the Shankara-charya has four-fold motivation. First, She wanted to punish the seer for having blamed her defeat in elections on her elephantine ego. Secondly, the Acharya offended her by refusing to undersell to her crony a hospital acquired by the mutt. Thirdly, she wanted to win back a part of the anti-Hindu Tamil votes by targeting Hindu icons and finally, she wanted state control over the highly influential and respected mutt that has enormous resources and wealth. There is no other explanation barring her hostility to the mutt for the timing of the arrest of the junior Acharya. If the Supreme Court found no merit in keeping the senior Acharya in custody in the conspiracy case, there is hardly any chance of the courts taking a different view in the case of his junior. But she must do her worst to hurt the Acharyas.

The Chief Minister stands exposed as a person abusing her powers and the state machinery for partisan ends. It is she and others of her ilk that are in the dock, and not the Acharyas. Her actions have disrupted the centuries-old tradition of uninterrupted puja at the mutt. This and the falsehood spread about the holy men have deeply hurt not only his followers but also the entire Hindu society. Hindus are unlikely to forgive her for the insults she had heaped on their religious and cultural icons. She may have to pay a very heavy political price for her unrestrained attacks on the Hindus. The Tamil Nadu police are no less guilty. It spread canards by selectively leaking false information about the alleged, confession by the seer and his alleged message to the Chief Minister begging forgiveness. One of the women, the police alleged has relations with the Swami and was absconding, went to the police to damn the police version. She is a cancer patient and a devotee of the Swami and told the police that she had often spoken to the Swami on phone to seek his blessings, whenever she felt depressed.

The media too behaved irresponsibly. It lapped up the canards fed by the police and the liberal rabble-rousers and presented these as gospel truth. It is high time the media do some soul searching. Is trial by media fair to the society and the persons concerned? No social purpose is served by lapping up lies and half-truths dished out by the police and interested parties to malign persons and outfits they target. Is it not the job of the mediapersons to cross-check the facts before making them public? And last but not the least, isn’t it the job of the Press Council of India to discipline the media by exercising its moral authority? Has the Council performed its duty? One wonders if the Council has forgotten its role and is already half dead!