Author:
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: December 17, 2004
URL: http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/17inter1.htm
Senior Supreme Court lawyer M N
Krishanmani is a deeply religious man. Author of a book called Shankara,
a treatise on Adi Sankara and the institution of the Shankaracharya, spirituality
for Krishanmani is a way of life.
At the same time, he is a very practical
person, who shuns orthodoxy. When the late Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Chandrasekharendra
Saraswati, refused to acknowledge Krishanmani's mother because she was
a widow, he protested and refused to worship the Parmacharya.
Krishanmani, who represents the
current Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Jayendra Saraswati, in the Sankararaman
murder case, believes the seer is being victimised by people who may not
be in agreement with his unorthodox ways, including his involvement in
areas like health and education.
He even believes Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister J Jayalalithaa got the Shankaracharya arrested on the advice of
her astrologer, who has asked her to keep Jayendra Saraswati in prison
till December 23.
An exclusive interview with Senior
Editor Sheela Bhatt:
Q.: How do you see the case against
the Shankaracharya?
A.: As far as the case is concerned,
I sincerely feel that all the allegations are foisted on him. He is completely
innocent. So far, there is no material (evidence) to prove his involvement.
There is only one truth in the whole episode, there was some conflict between
Sankararaman and the Kanchi Mutt. That is all. Everything else in the Shankaracharya
matter is totally untrue -- lies to implicate him in the matter out of
vindictiveness.
Q.: Who is being vindictive and
why?
A.: There are 20 to 25 murders
taking place in Tamil Nadu (every day), but Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
doesn't give a suo motu statement in the assembly nor does she give Rs
5 lakh to the victim's family in every case. Why has she done it in Sankararaman's
case? It is not that Sankararaman was known to the CM very well. Why was
this money not paid the very next day after Sankararaman was killed?
Q.: Why should she be vindictive?
She is a devotee of the Shankaracharya.
A.: That is a different question.
There was some bickering. The Shankaracharya once commented that she lost
the last (general) election because of her ego. Her vindictiveness started
after that statement. They were waiting for an opportunity to punish him.
They came to know that Sankararaman had some conflict with the Mutt and
later he was murdered. They took advantage. It is an act of victimisation.
There is no doubt about it.
Q.: So you mean to say that political
power is mightier than the Shankaracharya's spiritual power?
A.: Spiritual power works differently.
Political power can prevail (in the short term). So many other great people
have been charged -- even Lord Krishna was charged and Jesus Christ was
charged and crucified.
Q.: The conspiracy charge is a serious
one. The seer met Appu, the prime accused, inside the Mutt.
A.: But he (the Shankaracharya)
absolutely denies it. I met him last week in Vellore jail. He never met
Appu in the mutt. He never said anything to him. He never had any intention
to kill Sankararaman.
Q.: But he did say that Sankararaman
was harassing him.
A.: Yes, yes. I am also saying
that point is the only truth in the matter. He (Sankararaman) was troubling
him. He was writing letters. When somebody is disgruntled and when someone
has got a grudge against you, he will come out with false allegations.
Those allegations don't become truth.
Q.: What about Sankararaman's allegations
of sexual misconduct?
A.: Hundred per cent untrue. I
have been going to the mutt for a long time now. Nobody can meet the Shankaracharya
alone. All the time his disciples are with him. Always, more than 100 people
are standing outside his room. Always, he is surrounded by five, six people.
That is the practice. It Is just not possible to meet him alone. He is
not that type at all. These are false allegations. They wanted Usha to
say things against him. She refused. They could only manage one woman to
say things against him.
Q.: Women have alleged in the Tamil
press that he had a glad eye.
A.: No, no. Who are these 'women'?
Except one, nobody has said anything against him. Secondly, these women's
business has nothing to do with the murder case. Why is the police churning
out these allegations? Is it because they have no evidence, whatsoever,
in the murder case to implicate the seer? That could be the reason to malign
his image.
Q.: What about the alleged financial
irregularities in the mutt?
A.: All this is wrong. The mutt
accounts are perfectly audited by two, three reputed firms. No one will
be able to find anything to suggest irregularities.
Q.: But Sankararaman's letters give
a vivid account of it.
A.: They were all false allegations.
When I met the Shankaracharya in jail, he told me he has been saying all
along that Sankararaman's allegations are false. But he advised people
to just ignore the charges and he will stop making them. Eventually, he
stopped making allegations.
Q.: In that case, why was he murdered?
A.: We don't know. Simply because
we have some enmity with somebody and if he is murdered, why should we
be held responsible for it? He was removed from the mutt because of something
he did in the mutt. The Tamil press has written that there were also problems
at the temple he joined. I don't know if these allegations are correct
or not. There was a controversy regarding the mortgage deal too. He had
mortgaged temple property. Just an hour before his arrest, the Shankaracharya
told one journalist that if these things were inquired into, the murderer
could be traced easily. The police is not interested in investigating the
case. They just want to harass the mutt.
Q.: Was the Shankaracharya aware
that he was being arrested?
A.: No, he was not aware of his
arrest. He thought the police was taking him away to interrogate him. He
knew he would be interrogated in this matter. He was ready for any kind
of interrogation. Only when he arrived in Kanchi was he told that he was
under arrest. When they were travelling from Chennai airport to Kanchi,
he was shown a slip of paper. He could not understand that notice. The
police claim it was an arrest warrant.
Q.: He is such a powerful seer.
Nobody warned him about the arrest?
A.: Nobody expected his arrest
because he was not involved (in the murder of Sankararaman). Where is the
question of his arrest? The arrest was a well-planned game. They kept an
aircraft ready. Every detail was pre- conceived. He could not have been
arrested without the help of the Andhra Pradesh government.
Q.: Why is the police helping Jayalalithaa
build a case against the Shankaracharya?
A.: Who told you that the entire
Tamil Nadu police is involved? Only one officer, who is the investigating
officer, is doing all these things. He is vindictive too. He is satisfying
the CM's ego. He has forced Kandiraman and other accused to give statements
against the Shankaracharya. He is responsible for creating false evidence.
Q.: Why have the protests against
the Shankaracharya's arrest not picked up?
A.: Because his millions of devotees
are tolerant. Hindus are feeling sad, but they are not the type who will
burn buses or resort to street violence.
Q.: What could possibly be Jayalalithaa's
motive?
A.: Dravidian votes could be one
of the motive. But the prime motive is personal vendetta.
Q.: Do you have any evidence to
support this theory?
A.: There is no other logic. How
can you implicate him when he has not done anything? The seer said that
Jayalalithaa's defeat is attributable to her ego. If one can be so atrocious
in her approach, one can also be so unreasonable in responding to such
a small comment.
Q.: What is the truth of this case?
A.: There were many small flashpoints
between Jayalalithaa and the mutt. Like when the Kumbhabhishekam was fixed
in a temple in Chennai, her astrologer told her that the time fixed was
not auspicious for her. They (Jayalalithaa's advisors) suspected that the
mutt had done it intentionally. In Madurai's Palani temple, an idol of
Lord Kartikeya was changed. Somebody told her that that too would go against
her. There were many such rumours. To fix the timing of replacement of
the idol Acharya Jayendra Saraswati was consulted. Now he is being blamed
because she thinks the time was not right. This is speculation. He is completely
without a clue why she is being so vindictive!
Q.: How is he keeping up in Vellore
jail?
A.: He is slightly shattered, but
still smiling. He has not lost his spiritual strength. When I asked him
how he was feeling? He said, 'I am a sanyasi and I am used to sleeping
on the floor. I am not suffering at a personal level.' But he is shocked.
He is asking only one question -- why these allegations against him? He
does not know the real reason. He too thinks it is a case of Jayalalithaa's
personal vendetta.
