Saturday, January 15 2005 21:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Upping BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)'s Hindutva ante ahead of the Assembly polls, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Jan 15, 2005) vowed to oppose tooth and nail any attempt to "control" the Kanchi Mutt even as other senior party leaders demanded the dismissal of the Tamil Nadu Government.

Kick-starting the party's week-long campaign against the arrest of the two Shankaracharyas, Vajpayee told a gathering of party workers in New Delhi that a conspiracy was underway to disrupt the Pooja at the Mutt and install a third person.

"An attempt is on to control the Mutt and violate its sanctity. This conspiracy is a challenge to the society and we are accepting the challenge... We hope it (State Government) will not commit such a stupidity, but if it is determined to commit injustice, we will peacefully respond to it and we should be ready for it...

"The direction and condition of the country will change with the Sun changing its direction this Sankranti. We cannot remain silent spectators. We have faith in the judiciary, society and in our strength. We neither do injustice nor allow it. We cannot leave the Shankaracharyas in jail. The struggle has begun. Let the State Government follow the rules but we will not bow before vendetta," he said.

The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) chairman said the arrest of the two Shankaracharyas was not "just another incident."

In an apparent reference to the comparisons being made between the Shankaracharya's arrest and the non-arrest of the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, he said, "It is not a question of Hindus versus Muslims. Everyone has a right to freedom of religion. The State is secular and it cannot have one attitude towards one religion and another towards others."

Charging the State Government with attempting to "mislead the people and create confusion and irreverence among them," Vajpayee, who had taken to the streets on the issue when Jayendra Saraswathi was sent to police remand for three days, said, "if any crime has been committed, there are ways to investigate and punish the culprits."

"It is not an ordinary Mutt. It was established by the Adi Shankaracharya. If there is any problem with the Mutt's management and it is not in tune with the time, it can be reformed and changed."

He said even the Supreme Court has dismissed prima facie some of the "baseless allegations" against the Shankaracharya.

The former Prime Minister accused the State Government of making "contradictory statements" on the Mutt's bank accounts as also wild charges that the Seer was planning to fly out of the country in the night.

"Such planes do not fly in the night. They are parked in the evening itself," he said, adding such allegations were an "insult to the entire society and challenge to the social identity."

Charging the state Government with wanting to control the Mutt, senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said, "It does not have the right to remain in office even for a minute. The Centre should dismiss the Tamil Nadu Government forthwith."

He also attacked the Centre for its "silence" on the issue.

Regretting that the State Government did not extend even the basic courtesy to the Shankaracharya, Joshi recalled that even BJP leaders were put in Dak Bungalows when they were jailed in the Ayodhya demolition case.

"Even Bihar MP Pappu Yadav has access to mobile phones in the jail and terrorists get biryani but the Seer is denied even a concoction of curd and rice", he said.

The former Union Minister also slammed the "trial by the media" in the case.

Referring to the recent videotapes showing the alleged "confessions" of an incarcerated Shankaracharya, he said, "People have told me that he was given milk and he was doped before being interrogated".

He regretted that a person convicted in a criminal case has been made the Investigating Officer in the case against the Pontiff.

"The Supreme Court verdict is a slap on the face of the Tamil Nadu Government. It should have apologised after the verdict," Joshi said.

He recalled that the Seer had worked towards building a grand Ram temple by negotiating with Muslim leaders.

In his address, BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha V K Malhotra said arresting the Seer was akin to arresting the Pope or the Grand Mufti of Turkey.

He attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for not speaking out on the issue though she called the post-Godhra violence in Gujarat as a "genocide".

He demanded the dismissal of the Jayalalithaa Government and said if it was not done, it would show the "connivance" of the Centre. Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan and zonal in-charge M L Khurana also addressed the gathering.