The Hindu : Front Page : I am doing my duty, says Jayalalithaa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 01, 2004

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Front Page

I am doing my duty, says Jayalalithaa

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI, NOV. 30. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, said today that "the arrest of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswati, is the most painful decision that I have taken in my entire political career. This is not something I have done happily," she added.

Talking to reporters soon after meeting the Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Ms. Jayalalithaa denied allegations of political or personal motives behind Acharya's arrest in the "Sankararaman murder case."

She said: "I have already explained this. It was not a decision that I have taken happily as this was not the decision that I wanted to take. This is something which I have not anticipated or planned. But circumstances have compelled me to do my duty. I am doing my duty."

It was a very unfortunate development. "I had to take the decision because I happen to be the Chief Minister at the most unfortunate time. I was put in an unenviable position to perform my duty," she said.

On the allegation that she had done this only because the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam had planned an agitation on this issue or that she had resorted to this to gain "political mileage," Ms. Jayalalithaa said that all such allegations deserved to be dismissed with the contempt that they deserved.

`Misguided agitation'

Asked to comment on the BJP's agitation on the arrest issue, she said: "The protests were misguided." When a correspondent pointed out that the BJP was its ally in Tamil Nadu, she said: "They themselves had said that I am no longer their ally. So your question is irrelevant."

To a question whether the reported confession in police custody by the Acharya was obtained under duress, she said that it would not be advisable to say anything more on the subject as the court proceedings were on. "My Government is doing its duty and the police their duty and the law is taking its own course," she said. "Everyone is equal before the law. When the trial takes place, the truth will come out."

Bajrang Dal protest

Even as Ms. Jayalalithaa was discussing the State Plan outlay inside the Planning Commission, Bajrang Dal activists held a demonstration outside demanding the immediate release of the Kanchi Acharya.

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