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Joshi meets Sankaracharya, says arrest was unfortunate

        Vellore: Senior BJP leader and former HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi today met Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati who is in judicial custody at Vellore jail on alleged murder charge. After his meeting with the seer, the former Union minister told journalists that the manner in which the pontiff was arrested was unfortunate and that he didn't deserve that kind of treatment. He condemned the claims made by the police that Sankaracharya could consume poison if allowed to cook his own food and that he might escape to Nepal if allowed bail. Meanwhile, former Union minister George Fernandes has arrived in Chennai to meet Sankaracharya. Talking to the mediapersons at the airport he said that the arrest had violated human rights and decency. "For a person of the seer's stature, such a treatment should not have been meted out. I have come here to find what exactly happened. If the seer had committed any crime, there were lot of ways and means in the law to deal with it," he said. However, a court hearing the police petition to have Sankarachaya in its custody deferred the case till November 18.

Kanchi seer's arrest is a violation of human rights: Fernandes (Go To Top)

       Chennai: The convener of the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA), George Fernandes, on Tuesday described the arrest and incarceration of the Kanchi seer as an outright violation of human rights. While talking to reporters at Chennai en route to Vellore where he is scheduled to meet the seer at Vellore jail, he said that human rights as well as the decency had been violated in his arrest. "Sankaracharya shouldn't have been given the treatment that has been given to him. If he has committed any offence there are ways the law provides. But the way he has been treated is something which is not acceptable. There is something called human rights and there is something called decency. I believe that both have been violated," he said. At the Chennai Airport, he met Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy who has urged the Tamil Nadu government to release the seer unconditionally. "I am demanding Jayalalithaa to immediately release him unconditionally. He can be sent to jail if he is convicted. But till the case is on, a condition can be put that he can't leave Kanchipuram and should be available for interrogation. That's all. He should not be kept in jail. It is totally wrong. The Supreme Court has said very clearly that just because police has the power to arrest somebody for investigation doesn't mean that they have to exercise their power," he said.

Kanchi seer to be produced in court on Nov18 (Go To Top)

       Vellore: A magistrate's court on Tuesday directed the police to produce Kanchi Seer Jayendra Saraswathi before the court on November 18. The Shankaracharya was arrested and remanded to judicial custody in connection with a murder case last Thursday. The first class magistrate, G Uthamarajan, ordered the production of the Kanchi seer, following the presentation of police petition that sought permission for extended custody. Uthamarajan also adjourned to November 18 another petition filed on behalf of the Shankaracharya, seeking certain special facilities for him while in judicial custody. In his petition, the Kanchi Seer, who has been remanded to judicial custody till November 26, had sought certain facilities like hospitalisation, permission to do pujas and cook.

       Meanwhile, Kanchi mutt followers have decided not to come out onto the streets to protest against the developments in the last few days. Instead as a mark of solidarity, they have decided to organise pujas at temples and have stopped the distribution of sweets. Special pujas and yagnas are being conducted, seeking divine intervention to ensure that the crisis is over soon. "The Swamy is going through the toughest test. He is going to come out with flying colours, unscathed and we are all going to see it," a TV channel quoted one devotee as saying.

Police to seek further custody of Kanchi seer, arrest of others (Go To Top)

       Chennai/Vellore: Tamil Nadu police will attempt to seek permission from a court in Kanchipuram on Tuesday to keep Sri Jayendra Saraswati, the mutt's pontiff, in custody for some more time till investigations into the murder of a former mutt employee are complete. With Sri Saraswati's arrest last Thursday becoming a major political issue, former Union Ministers Murli Manohar Joshi and George Fernandes along with VHP leader Praveen Togadia are likely to call on the seer in Vellore jail today after getting permission from the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK government to do so. Television channel and newspaper reports also suggest that there are plans to intensify the probe into the September 3 murder of Sankararaman, the manager of the Sri Varadarajaperumal Temple in Kanchipuram by arresting more people, possibly four more, including Appu, the man who allegedly organised the killing for a fixed sum of Rs.40 lakh. So far, 17 persons have been arrested and the police has questioned seven mutt officials, including Sundaresa Iyer, its manager to enquire into bank transactions.

        The role of an unnamed Pune-based industrialist is also being investigated for providing a helicopter for the Sankaracharya from Mehboobnagar to Nepal. Efforts are also on to ascertain the the need for the frequent use of mobile phones by the pontiff and his staff in the run-up to the crime and thereafter. Tuesday's court order could also see an excessive reaction in terms of protests for or against the ruling. The Sangh Parivar and its affiliates have reportedly expressed a determination to court arrest in hundreds if the revered pontiff's incarceration is extended further. Senior VHP leader Giriraj Kishore has said that religious leaders and saints will hold demonstrations in front of Parliament if the Sankaracharya is not released at the earliest.

Hindus continue protests against Sankaracharya's arrest (Go To Top)

       Chennai/New Delhi/Meerut: NDA convener George Fernandes today said that the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati on murder charges was "violation of human rights". The Hindu seer, revered by millions of Hindus, was arrested last week in Andhra Pradesh on charges of murder of a temple official. The Shankaracharya, as he is popularly known, heads a Hindu monastery in the pilgrim town of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. "I am only demanding that a person of a stature of Shankaracharya should not have been given the kind of treatment he has been given. If he has committed some crime there are ways and means in the law provided. There is something called human rights and something called decency. I believe, in his case both have been violated," Fernandes told reporters in Chennai. Temple official Sankaraman, said to have been a critic of the religious leader, was hacked to death in an ancient temple in Kanchipuram in early September. The killing sparked protests by Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the DMK. The priest's lawyer described as baseless police charges of murder and abetting and conspiracy to murder. His bail application will be heard on Wednesday.

      Meanwhile, VHP activists in New Delhi called for demonstrations across the country to protest against the arrest of the priest, head of one of five Indian monasteries said to have been founded in the 8th century by the Hindu philosopher and religious reformer, Adi Shankaracharya. "There will be demonstrations till he is not released. The Hindu society has to be awakened and then only the government will wake up," Acharya Giriraj Kishore, VHP General Secretary told reporters. Likewise, in Meerut the VHP called for closure of all temples to protest the arrest.

Yasmin identifies 11 Best Bakery accused (Go To Top)

      Mumbai: Yasmin Sheikh, the fourth eyewitness in the Best Bakery case, identified eleven of the accused in court on Tuesday, and claimed that they were all part of the mob that attacked the bakery in Vadodara on March 1, 2002. The accused include Sanjay Ratilal Thakkar, Pankaj Gosai, Jagdeep Chunilal Rajbhar, Samabhai Baria, Shailendra Tadvi, Ravi Rajaram Chavan, Rajubhai Baria, Dinesh Rajbhar, Yasin and Haresh Desai. Yasmin, who is Zahira Shiekh's sister-in law, told the court that there were four other accused but they were not present in court. The four include Jayanti Chaiwalla, Mafat, Munna and Rinkoo. Recounting the events of the ill-fated day, Yasmin said the mob came with swords and bamboo sticks and attacked the bakery. The witness said she and her family were in the adjacent house and the crowd bolted the doors from outside. They later asked the inmates to come out. After they came out, her husband Nafitullah and three others Raju, Poufel and Riyaz were beaten up. She was confined to a room and the crowd threatened to molest her.

Militants kill 5 persons in Badgam (Go To Top)

      Budgam: Barely 24 hours ahead of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, militants struck once again. This time in Badgam, near Srinagar, killing at least five persons, including a woman. Police said that the armed extremists stormed into the house of one Abdul Rahim Malik in a bid to kidnap two counter-insurgents present there. On resistance by the family members the militants opened fire. A middle-aged woman was one of the victims. Abdul Ghani Malik, an eyewitness, said: "I was inside the room. Some masked men barged in our room and opened indiscriminate firing at us. Then I became unconscious. When one of my brother came and woke me up. I found that I as alive but five others were killed."

PM meets Assamese novelist Indira Goswami  (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: As part of her attempst to bring Assam's rebel ULFA to the negotiating table, Jnanpith awardee Indira Raisom Goswami met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday. Dr.Goswami was closetted with the PM for nearly an hour She claimed that some top ULFA leaders had established contact with her, told reporters that the PM has agreed to look into her appeal. "Paresh Baruah has said that he is ready to come to the negotiating table if, sovereignty is discussed. It will be a long process. The government has to finalise some modalities," said Goswami. The developments come just ahead of the PM's visit to the Northeast on November 20. Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has welcomed the ULFA's offer for unconditional talks, saying it is a positive development. The Prime Minister had assured that the peace talks would be unconditional, the Jnanith Award winner said.