BJP leaders meet President, compain against TN govt.

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>Fri, 19 Nov 2004 10:09:02 -0600

>

>BJP leaders meet President, complain against TN

>The Hindu

>Nov. 19, 2004

>

>New Delhi, Nov 19. (PTI): Anguished at Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati

>being sent to police custody, top BJP leaders, including former Prime Minister

>Atal Bihari Vajpayee, today complained to President A P J Abdul Kalam that the

>Tamil Nadu government was treating him as a "convicted person" and he was being

>"incarcerated".

>

>A BJP delegation, which also included party President L K Advani, sought

>evolving of "suitable guidelines" for dealing with cases in which religious

>personalities and institutions were involved.

>

>"We are deeply concerned at the manner" in which the Shankaracharya has been

>arrested and "incarcerated" on allegations of a criminal case, a memorandum

>submitted by the delegation to the President said.

>

>Noting that the party was not commenting on the merits of the case and that law,

>before which all citizens are equal, must take its course, it said "we share

>though the anguish and hurt sentiments of crores of Hindus of our country."

>

>Emerging from the 10-minute meeting with the President, Vajpayee told reporters

>that the BJP delegation told Kalam that Shankaracharya's "guilt was yet to be

>established and he is innocent till proved guilty".

>

>"While the court decision is acceptable to all, it seems from the conduct of the

>authorities in Tamil Nadu that he was being punished even before the charge was

>established", the former Prime Minister said. He said the Pontiff commanded the

>respect of millions of people and the issue was related to faith.

>

>Asked whether the BJP would sever its links with the AIADMK on the issue, Advani

>said, "our past President, M Venkaiah Naidu, had made it clear long back that

>the AIADMK was not part of the NDA".

>

>On the President's response to the BJP memorandum, he said, "he has agreed to do

>whatever is required".

>

>The BJP delegation, which also comprised Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh,

>Sushma Swaraj, Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitly, noted that Kanchi Peetham was an

>ancient and greatly revered institution for crores of Hindus and was linked to

>the sacred heritage of Adi Shankaracharya.

>

>"We strongly condemn the move to send the Swamiji to police custody for three

>days, especially since he had emphatically stated that he would fully cooperate

>with the investigation in judicial remand," the BJP memorandum said.

>

>Attacking the Jayalalithaa Government, the memorandum alleged that the Pontiff

>was being treated "more as a convicted criminal than as just an accused."

>

>"We hold the Government of Tamil Nadu directly responsible for any ill-treatment

>meted out to him in police custody," the BJP leadership said.

>

>It pointed out that India had a deeply religious society and people's sentiments

>"deserve to be respected in the conduct of statecraft".

>

>"The sanctity and dignity of the Kanchi Peetham, as indeed of all religious and

>spiritual institutions, of all denominations, must be protected from political

>pulls and pressures," it said.

>

>The BJP leaders said "suitable guidelines" must be evolved for dealing with

>cases in which religious personalities and institutions are involved.

>

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