Secular duplicity

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> >Editorial >The Pioneer >Monday, November 15, 2004 > >Kanchi Shankaracharya

Jayendra Saraswati is one of the >most respected figures for Hindus. More than

the >individual, the institution of the Kanchi Kamakoti >Peetham, of which he

is the reigning pontiff, stands >tall as one of the symbols of the Hindu

universe as it >was founded by Adi Shankar as the southern boundary of

>Bharatvarsh. Therefore, his arrest on seemingly flimsy >grounds amounts to

unwarranted humiliation of a >revered shrine as well as its presiding head. The

>Tamil Nadu Government does not realise that it is >playing with fire by pushing

the frontiers of >minorityism. The usual excuses offered for arresting a >person

of relatively less political consequence (which >are always forgotten in the

case of those with the >right contacts) are being advanced to justify the

>humiliation meted out to this savant. The murder of >the Mutth's employee

perhaps gave the J Jayalalithaa >regime the entry point to competitive

Hindu-baiting >which promises to pay huge political dividends. > >To appease

votebanks, she had withdrawn the order >against conversion and had even toned

down her earlier >stated position on Ms Sonia Gandhi's legitimacy in >Indian

politics. The manner in which the DMK was >baying for the Shankaracharya's

blood in the aftermath >of the murder may have raised the political

>temperature to an undesirable level, pushing Ms >Jayalalithaa to a corner. But

she should have waited >till the police provided harder evidence than the

>statements of some squealers. A nation which has grown >wiser after Zaheera

Sheikh knows the reliability of >such "evidence". Telephone links constitute at

best >circumstantial evidence and this was the national >experience after one of

the prime accused in the >December 13 attack-on-Parliament case got off. This

>realisation should have restrained Ms Jayalalithaa >from giving the nod to a

"dramatic arrest" by >air-dashing a posse to Andhra Pradesh as if the seer >was

escaping the law. His tour programme was announced >on the Peetham's website

well in advance and he never >travels abroad. So what was the necessity of

putting >him through a night-long ordeal, and that too on the >auspicious

occasion of Diwali? > >'Secular' revellers, meanwhile, are living it up. The

>Imam of Jama Masjid has never appeared in court to >answer more than

half-dozen summons against him. In >Kerala, Industries Minister Kunnhiali Kutty

is accused >of involvement in a sex racket, but his position in >the State

Cabinet is secure. To make doubly sure, >Muslim League hoods are going about

terrorising >journalists of Mathrubhumi from carrying out their >professional

duty of questioning the double standards >of 'secular' governance. The CBI has

been asked to >discontinue the prosecution of Congress leader Satish >Sharma

while the income tax department has been >stopped from booking Mr Lalu Prasad

Yadav in a >disproportionate assets case. The undermining of civil >society is

getting more brazen with each passing day. >The Shankaracharya episode seems

just the beginning of >a vendetta aimed at silencing the cultural opposition

>posed by Hindu self-esteem. > >

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