Charges
against Kanchi seer politically motivated: Karunanidhi
Chennai/Bangalore:
DMK chief and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi
today came to the rescue of Kanchi Sankaracharya, who has
been under arrest for more than a week now. He said that
the new case filed against the Sankaracharya was "politically
motivated". Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, who heads
one of the five Hindu monasteries, was arrested on November
11 on charges of alleged involvement in the murder of a
temple official, Sankararaman. Karunanidhi, a known bete
noire of State Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha, said booking
the seer for a second offence committed nearly two years
ago appeared politically motivated. "Until now I had not
made any comment, saying that the arrest of Kanchi Sankaracharya
is wrong. I made the statement that law is equal for all.
But now, by looking at the proceedings, that is booking
him for another offence in a case which happened two years
ago, I feel that this case is politically motivated," he
said. The second charge pertains to the seer's alleged role
in the assault on Radhakrishnan, another former temple official.
CBI
probe into seer's arrest will help: Bharadwaj (Go
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Lucknow:
In a significant statement, the Union Law Minister has
said that a CBI inquiry into the Sankaracharya case would
help given the controversy surrounding the case. He, however,
said that it was up to the Tamil Nadu government to ask
for a CBI inquiry. "Whether or not the case goes to the
CBI is for the Tamil Nadu government to decide. There's
no harm in a CBI inquiry specially if the controversy around
it increases. Public confidence can only increase as this
will be an independent inquiry. So there's no harm in it,"
said Hansraj Bharadwaj, Union Law Minister. He said there
was a petition seeking a CBI inquiry into the Seer's case
currently pending in the Supreme Court and added that the
government would abide by the direction of the court.
Meanwhile, in Kanchipuram, in a new twist to the Shankar
Raman murder case, the main accused Kathiravan has now said
he was tortured by the police and forced to implicate the
Kanchi Sankaracharya. Kathiravan said he was kept under
illegal custody by police from November 3 before he was
produced in a court on November 9 for remand. He said during
his submission in court, the police compelled him to endorse
whatever they said in the case.
The
Kancheepuram Mutt has questioned the timing of the second
case of attempt to murder against the Sankaracharya. "It
is a two-year-old incident. I do not know why they are bringing
it up now," said Mani, a spokesperson for the Kanchi Mutt.
"The first FIR did not even mention the Mutt or Swamiji.
Only the police or those who are being influenced can tell
if the timing is relevant," he added.
Sankararaman's
wife gets compensation (Go
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Chennai:
Padma, the widow of Sankararaman, a temple manager who
was murdered on September 3 allegedly at the behest of the
Shankaracharya of Kanchi Jayendra Saraswati, today received
Rs. five lakh as compensation from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
J. Jayalalithaa. Her son Anand Sharma and daughter Uma accompanied
her on the occasion. "I was very happy to receive money
and satisfied with the proceedings of my husband's murder
case," said Padma. Sankararaman was murdered in the premises
of Kanchi Varadaraja Perumal temple on September 3. Besides
the Shankaracharya, 17 other persons have been arrested
in connection with the murder case.
Left
parties ask Govt to reduce LPG, diesel prices (Go
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New
Delhi: The Left parties today asked the government to
reduce prices of LPG and diesel and restore 9.5 per cent
interest rate on Employees Provident Fund. At the fourth
UPA government-Left Coordination Committee meeting, the
Left parties also raised reviewing of certain provisions
of the Electricity Act, 2003 and proposed amendment to the
Patents Act, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and CPI-M leader
Sitaram Yechury told reporters after the two-and-half hour
meeting. Among others were present at the meeting--Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Defence
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, CPI-M General Secretary Harkishan
Singh Surjeet, CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan. Meanwhile,
the Union government has announced the withdrawal of Rs.
5 per month levy on each LPG cylinder.
Aziz
meets Manmohan Singh (Go
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New
Delhi: Visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz
met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Wednesday
for talks aimed at putting aside a recent spat over disputed
Kashmir and give a push to a plodding peace process. On
Tuesday the two countries had agreed to press on with the
frayed peace process as Aziz began talks with leaders in
New Delhi during a rare visit across the border. Indian
Foreign Minister Natwar Singh was also present at the meeting.
Aziz arrived in New Delhi in his capacity as the head of
a South Asian grouping, but analysts said the faltering
peace process and discord over Kashmir were likely to dominate
the first visit by a Pakistani premier in 13 years. On Tuesday
Aziz met former Indian prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee,
whose offer of friendship to Pakistan in 2003 began the
normalisation of ties between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Earlier on Wednesday the two sides also discussed a long-running
plan to build a pipeline to bring gas from Iran to energy-hungry
India that will traverse through Pakistan.
Aziz
says peace with India hinges on Kashmir (Go
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New
Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on
Wednesday that his country wanted to settle all disputes
with India in a friendly manner and peace between the two
neighbours hinged on the settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
Speaking to reporters here after discussions with his Indian
counterpart, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Azizsaid the dialogue process
between the two countries would continue. "Talks have been
held in a very conducive and friendly atmosphere. We have
dicussed all issues, talked about the status of composite
dialogue, we talked about the various CBMs (Confidence Building
Measures) which the two countries have initiated. We have
talked about the core issue between our two countries which
is the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The dialogue process
will continue, Pakistan wants peace with its neighbours
and peace with India. We want to settle all issues in a
manner which is friendly and which helps our whole region
grow," Aziz said. On resolving the dispute over Kashmir,
he said it was necessary to move their peace process forward.
Aziz
meets Kashmiri separatists (Go
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New
Delhi: Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday
met Kashmiri separatists, who have been urging New Delhi
to allow them to travel to Pakistan to meet separatist politicians
and militants based there. The meeting came amid reports
that the Pakistani establishment had told the rival groups
of the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference factions
to unite. A faction of Hurriyat, led by hardliner Syed Ali
Shah Geelani severed ties from the moderate wing last year.
"As far as his (Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz) government
is concerned, they are committed, as far as Kashmir is concerned
they want a peaceful and permanent solution to Kashmir issue.
They want that people of Kashmir should be involved in any
dialogue or discourse on the Kashmir issue. He said that
the government and people of Pakistan want the Hurriyat
to be united," Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, acting Hurriyat chairman
told reporters after the midnight meeting.
PM
to visit Pak soon (Go
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New
Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has accepted an
invitation from his Pakistani counterpart Shaukat Aziz to
visit Islamabad. The ''gracious invitation'' was extended
by Mr Aziz during his talks with Dr Singh here this afternoon.
According to Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, the dates for
the visit would be worked out through diplomatic channels.
It was also confirmed that the Prime Minister would attend
the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka from January 9 to 11, 2005.
