PROTESTS IN THE U.S.: Volunteers of Hindus of America and Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America held protest demonstration in Manhattan in New York, on Nov. 30 in what the organizers described as “mistreatment and arbitrary” imprisonment of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, a press release said. The protesters carried placards that read ‘No Justice for Hindus in India’ and ‘Secularism does not mean damning of Hindu Dharma.’ (Photo: Courtesy, the organizers of the protest)

New Delhi : Three weeks after Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi’s arrest in a murder case, the issue continued to evoke strong feelings and protests across the country as well as abroad last week.

The protests rocked both houses of Parliament on Dec. 2, with the opposition alleging that the seer was framed. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led opposition alleged that the Congress Party-led central government played a role in the arrest, the ruling parties insisted it was “entirely a state issue.” The Lok Sabha witnessed a noisy exchange of words, with the ruling party asking the opposition to stop acting as the custodian of Hindus in the country. In the Rajya Sabha, the BJP and its allies alleged that the Hindu pontiff had been given shabby treatment by the Tamil Nadu state government.

The Shankaracharya was arrested on Nov. 11 for alleged involvement in the murder of a temple official A. Sankararaman.

The government reiterated in both houses of Parliament that the Center did not have anything to do with the arrest and appealed to the opposition not to give a political color to the incident. “Let Parliament not interfere in the judicial process,” Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.

In both houses, the government denied that the Andhra Pradesh government had sought the Center’s permission before allowing the Tamil Nadu Police to arrest the seer from its territory.

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court was expected to rule on Dec. 3 on the Shankaracharya’s bail application. The prosecution on Dec. 1 presented to judge R. Balasubramaniam the case diary in a sealed envelope. The court had asked for the diary when the judge reserved his orders on Nov. 30 on a bail application moved by the lawyers of the pontiff.

The government advocate sought time till Dec. 2 to further clarify matters before the court.

Balasubramaniam, who heard extensive arguments from defense counsel and prosecution counsel since Nov. 29, said he might give a verdict in the matter on Dec. 3. It was the second bail application filed by the pontiff before the court. The first plea was dismissed by the high court on Nov. 20.

Amid protests both within India and at many places outside it, another prominent Hindu religious leader on Dec. 2 criticized the Tamil Nadu government, and described the arrest of Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi in a murder case as “a pre-planned move to discredit religious leaders.” Nischalanand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya who heads a mutt in Puri, Orissa, and visited Raipur in Chattisgarh on Dec. 2, told Indo-Asian News Service: “Hindus are facing harassment in their own motherland.

“The Kanchi Shankaracharya (Jayendra Saraswathi) has turned murderer overnight? His detention is a part of the bigger conspiracy to make Hindus a minority by casting a slur on religious leaders.” The Puri seer also said the Tamil Nadu government had played with the emotions and sentiments of millions of Hindus and demoralized them through gross misuse of government machinery.