The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Seer's arrest: Telugus urged to observe fast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Seer's arrest: Telugus urged to observe fast

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, NOV.16. The Andhra Pradesh Brahmin Welfare Associations' Federation has urged the eight crore Telugus all over the world to observe fast from sunrise to sunset on November 18 to register their protest against the "shoddy way" the Tamil Nadu police arrested the Kanchi Peethadipathi, Sri Jayandra Saraswathi, and took him away from Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh.

Feelings hurt

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the federation president, Peddibholta Lakshminaryana, and the general secretary, Kota Sankara Sarma, said the federation condemned the way the police arrested the religious head of the Hindus. The arrest of the religious head and his sudden shift form Andhra Pradesh to Chennai as if he was a dangerous terrorist, extremist or a psychopathic killer was most regrettable, they said. The feelings of crores of Hindus were hurt and the arrest of their spiritual fountainhead was an insult to them, the leaders said.

It was impossible to even think that such a pious man would resort to such a heinous crime as murder let alone conspiring to murder and then tamper with the evidence. The political parties that were at the helm of affairs in Tamil Nadu "had ulterior motives" in arresting the peetadhipathi. The DMK wanted the Union Government to dissolve the State Government on the grounds of inaction in this issue and the Anna DMK made the arrest "merely to save its own skin" even though there was "absolutely no truth in the allegations against the living God of the Hindus," the federation leaders said.

Mr. Sankara Sarma said: "We have faith. We are sure that the court will absolve the Kanchi seer of all the allegations. However, we appeal to the court to provide the seer the facilities he needs for performing his daily religious duties. The court should shift the seer back to Kanchi where the devotees can also get his darshan. It should keep the seer under a sort of house arrest, because there is no possibility of him running away to some unknown place."

He urged the Brahmins to chant "gayatri mantram" while fasting.

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