New Delhi: Expressing solidarity with the jailed Kanchi Shankaracharya, former President R Venkataraman took to the capital's streets along with former Prime Ministers Chandrashekhar and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who vowed to continue the "struggle till a Government that treats all religious leaders equally is put in place".

"The sit-in is ending today but the struggle will go on till such a Government comes when all religious leaders are given equal respect," Vajpayee told protesters squatting on the Parliament Street demanding the Pontiff's release.

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Slogans like 'Jai Sri Ram' rent the air welcoming Vajpayee's declaration.

He was addressing the concluding session of the three-day sit-in-cum-fast organised by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), coinciding with the Shankaracharya's police custody.

Pointing towards Venkataraman and Chandrashekhar, he said, "We are not sharing a platform but we have hit the streets. In a democracy, people have the freedom to express their views but when the Shankaracharya is maltreated and those in power are not sensitive to it, then we have no option but to take to the streets".