Justice must be seen to be done

[Guest guest]

>Pioneer 30 November2004

>Justice must be seen to be done

>

>Sandhya Jain

>

>Even at the risk of contempt of court, I must say that the manner in which

>the Tamil Nadu courts have conducted proceedings against the Kanchi

>Shankaracharya has left millions of citizens with the feeling that justice

>has not been seen to be done. As this is the litmus test of justice, the

>Chief Justice of India, who recently promised action against bad eggs, would

>do well to watch this extremely sensitive case.

>

>It has become a political fashion to invoke the majesty of law while

>launching a trial by organized propaganda through the media. Thereafter, the

>law is "guided" along a particular course. Tamil Nadu Public Prosecutor K.

>Doraisamy indicated this course when he called Swami Jayendra Saraswati a

>"most undeserving criminal," and fought to deny him bail. The courts

>acquiesced and extended the judicial remand of the 70-year-old seer by a

>fortnight, even as the case against him showed holes bigger than lunar

>craters. I also wonder if Jayalalitha's award of Rs. Five lakhs to the wife

>of the murdered man is judicially appropriate at this stage of the case.

>

>If the law is equal for all, we must understand what equality entails. Some

>years ago, an inebriated young man in a BMW mowed down five or six pavement

>dwellers in the wee hours of the morning and nearly washed away the evidence

>when caught by an alert constable. His lawyers managed bail after a fabulous

>compensation to the aggrieved families, "without prejudice to the case"

>(whatever that means), and secured the court's indulgence to send the young

>man to Colombia University, USA, to complete his education and save his

>career. The case has never since been heard of and the young man now graces

>newspaper society columns.

>

>Actor Salman Khan, arraigned in a similar crime, received bail from a

>compassionate police officer for the princely sum of Rs. 900/-. And the

>alleged murderer of poor Jessica Lal, who was shot in an illegal bar, chose

>the day and time of his surrender; the owners of that seedy joint remain the

>pride of the media. What credibility does media have when it tries to

>convince us of the Shankaracharya's culpability in a murder?

>

>Nor does the Tamil Nadu police inspire confidence. Jayalalitha was hustled

>into prison after Karunanidhi became Chief Minister in 1996; she returned

>the compliment in 2001. The Kanchi Matham's bank accounts, from which the

>alleged killers were allegedly paid, metamorphosed from ICICI to Indian

>Bank. The key accused told the court he was tortured to confess, but

>retracted a day later, while still in custody.

>

>While on politics, I must share the anguish of the Hindu community at the

>Prime Minister's statement in Hyderabad that "the Centre has no interest in

>the matter" (of the arrest). As it is now known that the Centre was informed

>before the arrest, it is just as well that Dr. Manmohan Singh has modified

>his stance on the matter.

>

>Meanwhile, media propaganda that Hindus are unconcerned about the arrest is

>questionable. The Hindu Munnani, a largely Dalit group, has protested at

>several places. Press reports suggest despair among Dalit families of

>Irulneeki village, the seer's birthplace, where he had launched several

>development schemes. The Kattunanyakan scheduled tribe, scavengers by

>profession, built an Amman temple in 1992 with his help. Village chief

>Natesan said eloquently: "When many still considered us untouchables, he

>treated us with dignity."

>

> It goes without saying that when a dignitary of the

>Shankaracharya's status is arrested, there must be a method behind the

>madness. In this case, there appears to be a synergy of vested interests and

>given the gravity of the crisis for Hindu society, it is worth placing all

>floating information on record and giving all concerned a chance to set the

>record straight. For in fairness, it is difficult to refute subterranean

>charges.

>

> The most overt reason alleged for the Chief Minister having the

>gall to order the action is an intimate associate's pathological obsession

>to possess all prime estate in the State. The Shankara Matham had purchased

>two world-class hospitals in Chennai and the Shankaracharya's refusal to

>part with one, despite a heavy duty "courtesy call," caused heartburn.

>

>But the underlying motive is said to be a religio-political conspiracy, with

>possibly an international angle. His Holiness was a thorn in the flesh of

>evangelists, and he was reportedly furious when Jayalalitha withdrew the

>anti-conversion law following her rout in the Lok Sabha elections. Days

>before his arrest, he had also railed against the Endowments Act whereby

>government exercised control over temples. He supported the demand for

>removal of non-believers from temple managements and wanted use of temple

>finances for purely Hindu religious causes (i.e., funds from Hindu temples

>should not fund Haj subsidy or Church maintenance).

>

>Swamiji hit the conversion industry where it most hurt. He aimed at building

>a temple in every Dalit village and in giving personal darshan in each

>village. His Chandrasekharendra Maha Vishwavidyalaya, a Deemed University,

>controls several educational and medical institutions, which serve the

>villages and challenge missionary monopoly in these sectors.

>

>In Tamil Nadu, the cognoscenti feel American evangelists planned the whole

>sordid affair. Certainly the silence of the Western media over the arrest -

>like Sherlock Holmes' dog that did not bark - is eloquent. The American

>organization that monitors freedom of religion abroad was upset with the

>anti-conversion law and was dialoguing with the State government to undo it.

>That President Bush supports vigorous evangelism is no secret. His

>disrespect for Hindu dharma was on public display immediately after his

>re-election, when he hosted an Iftaar and Diwali dinner at the White House

>simultaneously, and attended only the former. The pathetic excuse peddled by

>his staff was an insult to the worldwide Hindu community and must be

>perceived as such by Hindus, regardless of ideological predilections.

>

>Within Tamil Nadu, one community reportedly dominated in the arrest drama.

>Moreover, the Indian Christian Council organized a protest in Bangalore

>against those who opposed the arrest. MLC L Hanumanthaiah said the Vishwa

>Hindu Parishat and Bajrang Dal activists were behaving as if the arrest was

>an offence (wasn't it?). Janata Dal (S) leader Prof Narasimhaiah said the

>Tamil Nadu police had enough evidence (Deccan Herald 17 November 2004).

>

>The cognoscenti say that just as Congress Governments are promoting the

>building of churches even where there is no Christian population, so the

>former actress wanted to cozy up to the UPA chairperson by cutting the nose

>of the Hindu community. Possibly she fears dismissal of her government, or

>desires an alliance with Congress during the next election.

>

>Finally, given persistent fears of a conspiracy to takeover the Matham and

>its multi-crore assets, some points are in order. Immediately after the

>arrest, some persons met the seer in jail and pressurized him to abdicate.

>There is a concerted attempt to make Bal Shankaracharya renounce social

>activism. When Swami Vijayendra Saraswati was returning to Kanchi from

>Mehboobnagar, his convoy was stopped by the owner of a reputed newspaper,

>who personally accompanied him to the city. This gentleman reportedly

>attended a closed-door meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India

>in Kerala earlier this year along with the correspondent of a leading news

>channel. There is something rotten in Tamil Nadu.

>

>Eom

>

>

>

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