Friday, Oct 17, 2003
Friday, Oct 17, 2003 |
| Southern States | ||||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Kerala
By Our Staff Reporter
At a press conference here today, Akhila's father, Gopalakrishnan, and her maternal uncle, Jagadesh, said that Akhila herself had told them about it at the hospital of the ashram where she was admitted before the ``rescue operation''. Mr. Gopalakrishnan said his daughter had now written a letter to the ashram authorities stating that she had left the ashram on her free will. (There was tension at Mayyanad, near here, on Tuesday night when a group swamis arrived there ``to enquire about Akhila who left the ashram without their permission''. However, her parents and a section of the local people alleged that the swamis had come there to abduct the woman. Some of the ashram inmates were beaten up by the local people. The police had registered criminal cases against seven persons each from both sides.) Mr. Gopalakrishnan said his family members had been devotees of the ashram and that Akhila, a bright student then, had stopped her studies to join the ashram when she was doing her pre-degree. In fact, she and the family were happy with the situation. But after the demise of the ashram founder, Karunakara Guru, there was rivalry among the inmates and Akhila was caught in the crossfire as she was one of the prominent `swaminis' at the ashram. He alleged that the ashram inmates were a worried lot now since Akhila knew ``a lot of things happening there''. Mr. Goplakrishnan said that his family still feared that attempts would be made again to abduct Akhila and that they had approached the High Court seeking police protection. Asked whether presspersons would be allowed to talk to Akhila, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said that once police protection was provided he would bring her to the Press Club for a press conference. When asked about the allegations raised by Akhila's father, the ashram secretary, Swamy Chaithanya Njaana Thapaswi, told The Hindu that they were forced to conclude that there was a big conspiracy behind the allegations being raised against the ashram. He said the parents had never made any complaints and that they had always presented themselves as ardent devotees of the ashram. He said the ashram was always open to anyone irrespective of one's caste or creed and that all activities in the ashram were quite transparent. He said that Akhila had left the hospital on October 13 by telling her bystander that she was going straight to the ashram. But her parents took her to their house at Mayyanad. He said that things would become clear if Akhila was allowed to speak out.
DYFI offers protection
Meanwhile, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has offered protection to the house of Akhila. At a press conference here today, the DYFI district president, P.K. Gopan, said the Federation feared that the ashram authorities would continue to make attempts to abduct her. He said the DYFI had earlier launched a campaign against people posing themselves as god men and god women. The developments at Mayyanad had vindicated the DYFI stance. Mr. Gopan urged the police to register a case of abduction attempt against the inmates of the ashram. He alleged that the police and the administration seemed to be taking sides with the ashram authorities.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
