MASSIVE PROTESTS IN DELHI

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MASSIVE PROTESTS IN DELHI

DAY 2: BAPU FASTS CONTINUES IN PROTEST AGAINST SEER'S TREATMENT

"Those responsible for torture of holymen are cursed. Sant Sataye

Teeno Jaaye, Bal, Budhi aur Vansh,"

Source : Author: Rajeev R Roy

Publication: The Pioneer

November 21, 2004

 

 

 

Asaram Bapu joined the BJP leaders in a fast to protest

the `uncivilised' treatment meted out to the Shankaracharya of

Kanchi mutt. "Those responsible for torture of holymen are cursed.

Sant Sataye Teeno Jaaye, Bal, Budhi aur Vansh," Bapu said on Sunday

in his discourse as his devotees heard him spellbound.

 

Bapu, who first joined the fast on Saturday alongwith former Depty

Prime Minister and BJP chief LK Advani, promised the gathering to

come again on Monday. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and

spiritual guru Sudhanshuji Maharaj will join Bapu in the protest

fast. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has given a Bharat Bandh call

on Monday.

 

"What has been done to Sankaracharya is debilitating for crores of

people across the globe. He has been subjected to a humiliating

treatment. It is the height of insensibility. There is nothing to

worry. Keep trying and success will be ours," Bapu added.

 

The outraged Delhi'tes, who thronged Parliament Street in thousands,

carried placards which read among other things Sant Ka Apmaan Nahi,

Sahega Hindusthan, Seer vs Liar, Innocent in Jail, Culprit Out, Why

So Indifferent, Mr PM and Mrs Gandhi. "We will march to Chennai and

force Ms Jayalalitha to spend her days under house arrest if

Sankaracharya is not released," Bhuwan Sharma, resident of Vinod

Nagar, said.

 

The crowd that kept swelling till Bapu announced the conclusion of

the day's fast with the hope justice will prevail, resorted to

thunderous sloganeering to give vent to their ire when Prof Murli

Manohar Joshi recounted his converstation with Shankaracharya in the

jail. "It is sad to say that Shankaracharya is not getting the food

as per his needs," Prof Joshi said.

 

"He is not scared of the court's verdict. He says it will be

acceptable to him. What is shocking is that he is not being allowed

to perform poojas. He is not being given the flowers. Even during

the rule of Mughals and Britishers, the sants were not treated in

this way. It is an unprecedented event in the independent India," he

added.

 

Taking potshot at the Congress led government at the centre, Prof

Joshi said: "The arrest of Shankaracharya is not only Tamil Nadu

issue. He was arrested in Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh, where the

Congress is in power. The governments in New Delhi and Chennai are

equally responsible for what has been done to Shankaracharya."

 

A host of senior BJP leaders including Swami Shri Madhwashramji

Maharaj Jyotishpithadheswar of Badri Ashram, Himalaya, and MS Khan,

secretary, Urdu Academy, UP government, turned up to express their

grief over the arrest of the sant. "Let us get together to carry on

our struggle for justice. The BJP has taken a good initiative by

organising the fast protest," Swami Shri Madhwashramji Maharaj said.

 

"Shankaracharya is being treated as if he is a criminal. There is no

evidence against him. What is under attack is the people's faith,

feeling and belief Shankaracharya stands for. Which law permits what

is being meted out to Kanchi Mutt Shakaracharya," former deputy

speaker Rajaya Sabha and senior BJP leader Najma Heptullah said.

 

Former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj echoed a similar view. "Efforts

are on to fabricate the evidence. It is also not clicking. Truth

will come out one day only to expose those who conspired to

implicate Shankaracharya in a false case. The whole episode has

agonised the people deeply. It further deepened when Madras High

Court denied him the bail," Ms Swaraj said.

 

Earlier talking to the reporters, former Union Minister and BJP

general secretary Arun Jaitely said the agitation would be

intensified across the country, as "Shankaracharya's arrest is

politically motivated. There is no evidence against him. The whole

world is stunned."

 

The fight for seer, however, did not confine to Parliament Street

only. A large number of Hindu religious leaders staged a march

through the Walled City to protest the arrest of Shankaracharya and

sought his early release. They were accompanied by a number of VHP

and RSS volunteers and passed through the Walled City in a

procession to reach Gaurishankar temple in Chandani Chowk in a

procession.

 

Earlier addressing the sants at Ramlila Grounds, VHP leader Ashok

Singhal said the Hindus will oppose "tooth and nail" any attempt by

TN government to take control of Kanchi Mutt. He accused Ms

Jayalalitha of "conspiracy and vendetta" to execute the seer's

arrest in a murder case.