Vindication, indeed

The acquittal of the Kanchi Shankaracharya, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, by a sessions court in Puducherry should help restore a modicum of faith in the ancient religious institutions, if nothing else. Of course, it would vindicate the Shankaracharya, who had to face the indignity of arrest and slapping of murder charges against him and a number of his key aides. This was extraordinary in the annals of modern Hinduism. At least, we do not recall any of the four Shankaracharyas being subjected to such criminal investigations. Lakhs of devotees of the Kanchi Shankaracharya in particular, and followers of the Hindu religion in general would feel immensely relieved at the honorable acquittal of Swami Jayendra Saraswathi. It was natural for them to be assailed by doubts about their own faith when the Tamil Nadu Police charged him with a criminal conspiracy to eliminate his one-time manager, who had accused him of alleged financial misappropriations. Even at that time, leading voices were raised against the sheer preposterousness of the charge. It was claimed that the Shankaracharya had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate A Sankaraman, manager of a temple in Kancheepuram, after he had alleged misappropriations of temple funds. Swami Jayendra Saraswathi and his immediate junior, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, along with a few others, were charged with a conspiracy to eliminate Sankaraman, who was killed in mysterious circumstances in September 2004. The arrest of the Hindu pontiff along with his chief aides had resulted in a furious debate. The police were accused of acting in ugly haste, acting on a private agenda, and showing a marked disrespect to the widely-revered Shankaracharya. He was arrested under the glare of news cameras, subjected to a tough grilling and generally given rough treatment while in jail. However, the trial exposed the ugly haste with which the police had gone about foisting the blame on the Swami and its shoddy investigations. The prosecution case was in smithereens once witness after witness on the stand denied its conspiracy charge. As many as 21 witnesses were declared hostile. Given this, the prosecution had no leg to stand on in the absence of any tenable evidence. It was clear that the pontiff had been dragged into the murder trial as part of a political agenda. The usual political forces in Tamil Nadu, which take pride in disavowing faith in the Hindu religion, had allegedly instigated the police to go after the Swami since he was the head of the one of the most widely revered seats of the Hindu faith. Indeed, some of the accused, who have been acquitted of the murder charge by the sessions court, had been held under the Goonda Act. This was a deliberate attempt to denigrate them. But, in the end, justice seems to have been done.

However, the blame for an absurd attempt to slap the Shankaracharya with murder charges without foolproof evidence must be fixed and the concerned police and civilian authorities suitably disciplined. It should not be easy for any policeman or civil servant to twiddle with the head of a religious institution as revered as the Kanchipuram Mutt in the future. Personal faith in the religion or an absence of it ought not to be allowed to colour investigations of criminal charges. As it is, charlatans like Asaram, going around as spiritual leaders, have done immense damage to the faith of countless Indians. Care should be taken not to sully the image of ancient and widely revered seats of the ancient religion both by the temporal authorities and by those who by dint of their position as heads of these mutts need be ever watchful in maintaining the highest standards of moral conduct. The acquittal of the Kanchi Shankaracharya not only vindicates him, but it vindicates the faith of crores of Indians.