Author: PTI
Publication: The Hindu
Date: November 22, 2004
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/000200411221601.htm
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
president M Karunanidhi today said he suspected "personal vengeance and
motives" behind the way in which Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati
was treated after his arrest.
"It is too much. My opinion is the
same as that of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue," he told
reporters.
"We have welcomed the arrest of
Sankaracharya but now we have come to know that there are certain things
behind the arrest. There is personal vengeance on the part of Chief Minister
Jayalalithaa," he alleged.
He said the Sankaracharya was arrested
only after two and a half months after the temple official Sankararaman
was murdered. "What happened in between. Why is the delay. They say it
was due to investigation. But on hearing certain facts, doubts have been
created," he said.
Asked whether there was a political
motive behind the arrest, he said, "there are a lot of personal issues
between Jayalalithaa and the Sankaracharya. This should not be forgotten."
Asked whether his present statement
contradicted his earlier stand of welcoming the arrest, Karunanidhi said
"I welcomed the arrest then. But further information on the arrest has
raised a lot of doubts."
The Government had not given any
proper explanation to the doubts raised by some leaders on the arrest of
Sankaracharya and on the killing of forest brigand Veerappan, he said.
On VHP working president Ashok Singhal's
allegation against Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the arrest issue,
he said nobody will accept it.
On the BJP's protest against the
arrest, he said "they are doing their duty. But it is better that they
do not spark any communal fight over the issue," he said.
On remarks expressed by certain
quarters that the seer was innocent, he said it was for the court to decide.
