Saturday, November 27, 2004
The Shankaracharya arrest
[From Raghav Srinivasan] In the wake of the Shankaracharya arrest, Raghav points me to the opinion piece that The Hindu came up with when Karunanidhi was arrested.
THE ARREST OF the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, effected in a post-midnight operationthat brought back memories of the dark days of the Emergency, smacks of political vendetta and deserves to be condemned in the strongest of terms, whatever may have been the justification for the action itself. The crude manner in which it was carried out - the unearthly hour chosen for the operation and the physical force employed by the police in the process of taking him into custody without any regard for his age or health - is an affront to human dignity.
Compare this to the opinion piece for the Shankaracharya arrest.
THE DRAMATIC ARREST and incarceration of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the most high profile of all contemporary Hindu religious leaders, as the prime accused in a brutal contract killing of a humble adversary is a first in the annals of the rule of law. The message sent out by this action taken by the Tamil Nadu police, evidently with prior approval from Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, is that nobody, however high in religious or temporal matters, shall be above the law.
While I don't think this nescessarily illustrates bias on part of The Hindu editors, the concern is whether this is part of a general presumption of the Shankaracharya's guilt. In a society where getting arrested itself has some measure of social stigma, the concern is whether people are going with the "where there is smoke, there must be fire" line of thinking. The Shankaracharya has been a positive influence, and has tried to stay away from the politics of rage and violence. Personally, I hope he is cleared of the charges, and I hope that he comes out of the trial with his reputation vindicated, if indeed he is innocent.
The BJP seems to be trying to push for legislation calling for special treatment for religious leaders. The rationale is the fear of communal violence, but so far, the response to this has not been violent, and even the VHP-sponsored bandh got a pretty lukewarm response. Hopefully, the issue will remain non-political.
Meanwhile, the folks at the BBC continue to blunder on.
Mr Saraswathi heads one of five seats of Hinduism and his arrest has sparked great anger among followers.
Wonder what Mr. John Paul II, who, of course, heads the highest seat in Christendom, and is, of course, the head of all Christians around the world, thinks of all this?:)
UPDATE : Another link from Raghav : Outlook is carrying an article that is sharply critical of Outlook's own editorial policy in its coverage of the Shankaracharya arrest. You've got to hand it to the Outlook folks for being open and democratic.
Swami and Fiends, along with the inset How to Cash In (Outlook, Nov 29), on the Shankaracharya affair, was a typical trial by the media. It was also in line with the general editorial policy of Outlook to 'cash in' on any opportunity to nail those who believe in the spiritual traditions of this ancient land. Facts, as usual, were either twisted or cooked up to hit predetermined targets (read Hindutva forces, BJP/RSS). The report says, "This is not the first time Jayendra Saraswati seems to have organised an attack through goons".
THE ARREST OF the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, effected in a post-midnight operationthat brought back memories of the dark days of the Emergency, smacks of political vendetta and deserves to be condemned in the strongest of terms, whatever may have been the justification for the action itself. The crude manner in which it was carried out - the unearthly hour chosen for the operation and the physical force employed by the police in the process of taking him into custody without any regard for his age or health - is an affront to human dignity.
Compare this to the opinion piece for the Shankaracharya arrest.
THE DRAMATIC ARREST and incarceration of the Kanchi Sankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the most high profile of all contemporary Hindu religious leaders, as the prime accused in a brutal contract killing of a humble adversary is a first in the annals of the rule of law. The message sent out by this action taken by the Tamil Nadu police, evidently with prior approval from Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, is that nobody, however high in religious or temporal matters, shall be above the law.
While I don't think this nescessarily illustrates bias on part of The Hindu editors, the concern is whether this is part of a general presumption of the Shankaracharya's guilt. In a society where getting arrested itself has some measure of social stigma, the concern is whether people are going with the "where there is smoke, there must be fire" line of thinking. The Shankaracharya has been a positive influence, and has tried to stay away from the politics of rage and violence. Personally, I hope he is cleared of the charges, and I hope that he comes out of the trial with his reputation vindicated, if indeed he is innocent.
The BJP seems to be trying to push for legislation calling for special treatment for religious leaders. The rationale is the fear of communal violence, but so far, the response to this has not been violent, and even the VHP-sponsored bandh got a pretty lukewarm response. Hopefully, the issue will remain non-political.
Meanwhile, the folks at the BBC continue to blunder on.
Mr Saraswathi heads one of five seats of Hinduism and his arrest has sparked great anger among followers.
Wonder what Mr. John Paul II, who, of course, heads the highest seat in Christendom, and is, of course, the head of all Christians around the world, thinks of all this?:)
UPDATE : Another link from Raghav : Outlook is carrying an article that is sharply critical of Outlook's own editorial policy in its coverage of the Shankaracharya arrest. You've got to hand it to the Outlook folks for being open and democratic.
Swami and Fiends, along with the inset How to Cash In (Outlook, Nov 29), on the Shankaracharya affair, was a typical trial by the media. It was also in line with the general editorial policy of Outlook to 'cash in' on any opportunity to nail those who believe in the spiritual traditions of this ancient land. Facts, as usual, were either twisted or cooked up to hit predetermined targets (read Hindutva forces, BJP/RSS). The report says, "This is not the first time Jayendra Saraswati seems to have organised an attack through goons".
