People's Democracy

TAMILNADU

On Shankaracharya And His Arrest 

G Ramakrishnan

THE Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi was arrested on November 12 on charges of abetting the murder of A Sankararaman, causing disappearance of material evidence and criminal conspiracy. He was remanded to 15 days judicial custody. Sankararaman, a highly orthodox acolyte of the Kanchi mutt had been very close to the late Paramacharya, the senior Shankaracharya. However, he became bitterly critical of Paramacharya’s successor, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, on many issues. He made serious allegations of financial irregularities against Sri Jayendra Saraswathi in a letter written to him just days before he was brutally murdered on September 3.

The AIADMK government acted promptly and firmly on the basis of clinching evidence against the Shankarcharya. The CPI(M) state committee, which met on November 11-12 passed a  resolution welcoming the action taken by the state government. Excepting the BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits, almost all other parties in the state have supported the state government action. They have underlined that no individual political or religious leader is above the law and that the law must be allowed to take its own course.

The RSS and VHP have been trying to give a communal twist to the arrest of  Shankaracharya. They gave a call for a bandh protesting the arrest of the Shankaracharya and went to the extent of demanding that legislation should be enacted to grant immunity to sants against criminal prosecutions. The RSS and VHP goons attacked the public prosecutor who argued against granting of bail to  Jayendra Saraswathi. 

It must be noted that it took more than two months for the Tamil Nadu police to book the accused in the Sankararaman murder case, particularly since the accused, Shankaracharya was revered by his devotees  throughout  the country and even  outside the country.  However, credit must go to Nakkeeran, a Tamil weekly, which dug into the cold blood murder and exposed the complicity of the Kanchi mutt in the crime.  Nakkeeran correspondent conducted a detailed interview with the Shankaracharya  on this matter and, in fact, this interview gave vital clue to the police to pick up the thread of investigation. Now, the police claim that they have clinching documentary evidence linking Shankaracharya with the crime. 

BACKGROUND

What led to the situation wherein the head of the most revered mutt is accused in a murder case is the question troubling and shocking the devotees of the Shankaracharya. It is pertinent to analyse the background to the arrest to rebut the communal arguments of the Sangh Parivar.

Unlike his predecessor Paramacharya, Jayendra Saraswathi got entangled himself in non-religious and political matters. The Paramacharya represented the socially conservative trend in his days and was keeping himself away from politics. He was firmly against mixing religion with politics throughout his career as the head of the Kanchi mutt. He had different views about the leaders of the national freedom movement but he did not involve himself in any current political or communal affairs. In an interview to senior Congress leader, C Subramanian, in 1980, Paramacharya categorically expressed his views on secularism and communalism thus:

 “Regionalism, corruption and all-round indiscipline are indeed grave dangers to our national unity.  But communalism is the worst among them. The root cause for the reemergence of communalism, even after the heart-rending partition of India, is the short-sighted, selfish approach of politicians and political parties.  Those who genuinely love India and are earnest about ridding the body-politic of communalism, must unreservedly refuse to forge alliance with communal parties for the sake of gaining or retaining power.”

“ … Indian secularism does not mean godlessness or deprecating and reviling other religions. True secularism is equal respect for all religions.”

“All Indian citizens and parties are bound by the Constitution.  We are a secular State. In view of the unhappy experience after the advent of freedom, and the damage communal parties have done to the national fabric, it is time that the government should, if need be and if Constitutionally permissible, prohibit by law communal parties contesting elections by themselves or in alliance with recognised national political parties.  In any event, national political parties should refuse  to have any alliance with these parties.  The Constituent Assembly (Legislature) had passed a resolution in 1948 in this regard”.

- The Hindu, November 6, 1990

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Departing from this tradition of the mutt, Jayendra Saraswathi was very much willing to  involve himself in contemporary issues, which in no way were connected with the day-to-day activities of the religious discourse of the 2,500 years old historic mutt. 

There was a controversy about him during the 1980s also. In 1987 Jayendra walked out of the Sankara mutt leaving behind his “danda” and “kamandalam” causing distress to his devotees. He left the mutt without informing anyone, including the senior Shankaracharya.  Later on he returned back to the mutt and resumed his duties. But till date why he had left the mutt still remains unexplained.

Paramacharya was clear in his attitude towards politics and religion.  But  Jayendra Saraswathi meddled in controversies. During the days of P V Narasimha Rao  government he got involved in the Ayodya tangle, offering himself as the mediator. The same was repeated, much more actively, during the Vajpayee government.  As part of mediation he openly suggested that if the Muslims came forward to allow the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, the Sangh Parivar would give up its claim over Kasi and Mathura sites.  With the Sangh Parivar itself shooting down this offer, Jayendra’s efforts came to a naught.

What was different in the Shankarachrya’s mediation this time was the way he openly sided with the Sangh Parivar line on Ayodhya. It is apparent to everyone that the BJP started the Ayodya movement as a strategy to whip up Hindu communal feelings and capture power. Knowing fully well the BJP’s game Jayendra Saraswathi favoured them.  Observers feel that all these affairs and his live contacts with the communal organisations have led him to this situation and exposed him to the sins of power-mongering politicians.