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No more police custody for Sankaracharya

      Chennai: The Kanchi Sankaracharya, Jayendra Saraswati, will not have to spend another day in police custody. A local court in Kanchipuram has rejected the prosecution plea seeking extension of the police custody of the seer till 2 p m on Tuesday. Dismissing the application, Kanchipuram First Class Judicial Magistrate-I G Uttamaraj held that the seer had already been sufficiently interrogated and there was no need to grant further custody. The seer was arrested in connection with the murder of a former temple aide, Sankaraman.

       In a related development, the Madras High Court rejected the Sankracharya's petition challenging a Kanchipuram court order to send him to police custody. Justice A K Rajan said that it was legally right for him to be sent to police custody. Magistrate Uttamaraj had remanded the seer to police custody from November 19 to 22. He had also directed that Kanchi seer's counsel could only meet him between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm during the period of police custody.

       Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Monday announced a special grant of Rs. 5 lakh to the family of murdered Varadarajaperumal temple manager Sankararaman. Jayalalithaa made this announcement in the state Assembly today. She said the grant had been made after Sankararaman's widow, Padma, had sought financial help as her family was living in abject poverty and the children were unable to continue with their education. Jayalalithaa said the request was accepted and the amount was sanctioned from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

      Sankararaman was murdered in the temple complex at Kancheepuram on September 3. After investigations over the last three months, the state police found the possibility of the Sankaracharya of Kanchi, Jayendra Saraswati, having a link to the crime. The venerated pontiff has been in custody since November 10 in the Vellore Central Jail. His incarceration has led to the holding of state-wide protests by radical Hindus, the opposition leaders.A petition seeking the extension of the seer's custody is coming up before the Madras High Court today.

Vajpayee joins hunger strike protesting seer's arrest (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today joined the relay hunger strike by BJP leaders to protest the arrest of Kanchi Shankaracharya Jyaendra Saraswati. "This agitation will carry on till the time there is such a law and order in the country where all the religious leaders are respected equally," Vajpayee said on the occasion. Jayendra Saraswathi, head of one of the five most important Hindu monasteries, was arrested earlier this month by police of southern Tamil Nadu state where he heads a monastery in the pilgrim town of Kanchipuram. Meanwhile, a daylong shutdown called by rightist organisation VHP was largely peaceful, but drew a mixed response in different parts of the country. Shops and business establishments were closed in Agartala, while the traffic movement was thin.

Bandh in Jammu over Kanchi seer's arrest (Go To Top)

     Jammu: BJP workers in Jammu organised a shutdown and a protest in Jammu on Monday over the continued incarceration of the Shankaracharya of the Kanchi, Jayendra Saraswati. "The nandh call was given by the VHP against the arrest of Shankaracharya. The BJP has been organising protests all around the country to mark their protests and this is the dharna by the BJP and we are supporting the bandh call by the VHP. We are demanding that like there is no law applicable to the Prime Minister and the President, like that the feelings of the Hindus should be kept in mind and we know that Shankaracharya has been arrested on false charges that is why BJP is protesting against it", said Shamsher Singh, a BJP worker. "Our bandh is because we want that everything should move according to the court's orders. Till the court decides about this matter, he should be treated fairly and he should not behave as if he is a criminal", said another BJP worker. The sensational arrest of the 60-year-old Brahmin priest has provoked an outrage among Hindu hardline groups.

Right-wingers on strike over arrest (Go To Top)

     New Delhi/Ranchi/Dehradun/Ahmedabad: The BJP leaders carried on with their relay hunger strike, while hundreds of Hindu saints belonging to the VHP from different parts of the country congregated in New Delhi and called a nationwide strike against Kanchi Shankaracharya Jyaendra Saraswati's arrest last week. While taking part in the hunger strike, senior BJP leader VK Malhotra said: "Millions of people's sentiments have been hurt by the arrest of Shanakaracharya. It has never happened so far, it is unprecedented. It's just like arresting the Pope." The shutdown call by the VHP did not affect life in the Capital. Though, in Ahmedabad most of the shops and business establishments downed their shutters in response to the strike call.

      VHP leader Praveen Togadia came down heavily on the prime minister for distancing himself from the seer's arrest. "I am surprised that the Prime Minister has said that he has no hand in the arrest of the seer. He is more concerned about the small minority of 13 crore of Muslims and Christians but is least bothered about the majority Hindus. I think he should be a Prime Minister of Vatican or Pakistan. Then when he saw the anger of people, he said the Sankaracharya should be kept in a guest house. Why should he be arrested in the first place?," Togadia said in Ranchi.

     Saraswathi was arrested after temple official Sankararaman, said to be a bitter critic of his, was hacked to death on September 3. The sensational arrest of the 60-year-old Brahmin priest provoked outrage among conservative Hindus and hardline groups such as the VHP and the BJP, which has staged countrywide protests. Partial response of the shutdown was seen in Dehradun too.

More troops pulled out of Kashmir (Go To Top)

     Srinagar: The third batch of troops was pulled out from Kashmir today as the peace process between New Delhi and Islamabad carries on smoothly, except a few strong statements last week. The soldiers left their bases in convoys of trucks, jeeps and buses from Jammu. Army confirmed that troops were not withdrawn from the military line of control (LoC). "It is part of the troops reduction in the valley and they are moving out of the vallley. As you see, they have all marched out in different types of vehicles forming war convoy," said Lt. Col. L. Sinha, an army official. Last week, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had, in a move to give momentum to the sluggish India-Pakistan peace process, announced that New Delhi would withdraw troops stationed in Kashmir. Though the Centre has not specified as to how many troops it plans to withdraw from Kashmir, some army officers have put the number at over 20,000.

Pak PM arriving in India on Tuesday (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will arrive here tomorrow afternoon on a two-day visit to India. According to Mr Aziz's official engagements, he will reach here 3.30 p.m. by a special aircraft from the Maldives. Soon after his arrival, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh will call on the visiting dignitary in his suite at the Taj Mahal Hotel at 5 p.m. This will be followed by a meeting between Aziz and Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer at 5.45 p.m. The proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is expected to dominate their talks. The Pakistani premier will then call on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the latter's 6 A, Krishna Menon Marg residence at 6.45 p.m. He will meet the Leader of the Opposition L K Advani at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and this will be followed with a 11.45 a.m. meeting with UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Aziz's meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take place at Hyderabad House at 12.30 p.m. The two are expected to review the progress in the composite dialogue and consider ways and means to give an impetus to the peace process. Mr Aziz will call on President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan at 3.p.m. His last official engagement is a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath at 4.p.m..

       In between his official engagements, Mr Aziz is likely to meet various separatist Kashmiri groups, including different Hurriyat factions. Pakistan's Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon, Water Resources and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jadoi, Railways Minister Shamim Haider, Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Mohammed Ali Durrani, Minister of State for Overseas Pakistanis Tariq Azum Khan, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar and Leader of the House in the Senate Wasim Sajjad are expected to form part of the Pakistani delegation.