Church Leaders Cry Foul Over Hindu Seer's Arrest, But ‘Law Must Take Its Own Course’

Kochi – Jayendra Saraswati, the Sankaracharya of Kanchi mutt may have been denied bail by the Madras High Court, but his morale has not dampened as many people, including Christians are alleging that his enemies are bent on tarnishing his good name.

Recently, Church leaders in Kerala have raised their voice against the humiliating manner in which the prominent Hindu saint, Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati of Kachi, was arrested and treated by the Tamil Nadu police but have at the same time, admitted, that truth and morality must be seen objectively and irrespective of religious affiliations, if one is found guilty, the law must be allowed to take its own course.

Deploring the way the police treated the Kanchi pontiff, the supreme head of Malankara Orthodox church, Metropolitan Baselious Marthoma Mathews–II said that it had made him sad and disillusioned.

"Who is not impressed by the simple life of the Mutt chief?" he wondered. The Metropolitan said he had admired the Sankaracharya for his learning and way of living.

"I do not have the courage to believe what appears in the newspapers", he said.

Appealing to the authorities to carefully scrutinize their facts before rushing in this matter, Metropolitan Baselious Marthoma Mathews–II lamented that this action may have marred the image of the law enforcement body in our nation in countries abroad.

The vice–president of Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and Metropolitan Archbishop of Trivandrum, Cyril Mar Baselious, condemning the act of the police, said that the Hindu seer ought to have been treated with due respect even at the time of his arrest.

Doubting whether the head of a major religion, the Sankaracharya of Kanchi Mutt, was accorded his citizen’s rights during the time of his arrest, Metropolitan Cyril Mar Baselious lamented that "it did not befit our culture nor did it bring a fair name to the country."

Archbishop Soosapakiam of Latin Catholics Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram refused to comment on this issue, saying that it was too stunning for words.

Father Paul Thelekat, spokesman for the Syro–Malabar Church, expressed “deep pain” at the arrest of the Hindu seer and said that civil authorities must be careful while handling a religious leader, lest they tarnish the good name of the spiritual leaders of this nation.

However, concerned over the charges made against the pontiff, he also added that "spiritual leaders are light to other ordinary persons and they must live accordingly.”