The Hindu : National : Acharya's arrest anti-Hindu: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 22, 2004

National

National

Acharya's arrest anti-Hindu: BJP

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV.21. The Bharatiya Janata Party today continued its `dharna' to protest against the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, even as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) charged that the BJP leadership had once again shown its "true colours.''

Even as BJP's senior leader, Murli Manohar Joshi, sat in `dharna' at Patel Chowk here, he was joined by the party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, and general secretary, Arun Jaitley.

The BJP blamed the Centre as well as the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government in Tamil Nadu for the treatment meted out to the Acharya. The party described the action as anti-Hindu and said that it had hurt the sentiments of the majority community.

Tomorrow, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, will lead the `dharna.' The three-day relay `dharna' is part of the BJP's nationwide protest.

Dr. Joshi said the Centre could not absolve itself of responsibility in the arrest, a point emphasised also by the former deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptullah, who came to the venue of the `dharna.' While Dr. Joshi said traditional values were being destroyed in the name of secularism, Ms. Heptullah said the arrest had hurt the dignity and self-respect of all and it was not a matter that concerned Hindus alone. The Central and State Governments could not be absolved of responsibility for the arrest on the plea that he was sent into judicial and then police custody by the court. Dr. Joshi insisted that since the Sankaracharya was arrested at Mahbubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, the Tamil Nadu police would have got permission from the Andhra police and the Government to arrest him.

CPI (M) charge

However, the CPI (M) has described the BJP's protest action as nothing but an expression of its disregard for the primacy of the secular principle and the judicial process. "This stance is in keeping with the BJP's contempt for the law of the land and placing religious faith above the secular principle which was witnessed during the campaign to demolish the Babri Masjid,'' the CPI (M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.

The Polit Bureau pointed out that the BJP leadership knew very well that the decision to remand the Sankaracharya to judicial custody and later police custody was taken by the courts. The BJP sought to challenge this judicial process and attributed falsely the decision to the State and Central Governments, the CPI (M) said.

The BJP could claim to represent "the Hindu samaj," the CPI (M) said, adding that a big majority of Hindus upheld the principle that nobody was above the law when it came to criminal charges, which were outside the purview of the religious domain. `The BJP's protest action will be seen for what it is — a cheap attempt to whip up religious sentiments for political gains. It will meet the same fate as its recent attempts to project a communal platform.''

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