Shravan Krushna Trutiya/Chaturthi
Pondicherry: Two key prosecution witnesses in the Sankararaman murder case today contradicted their earlier statements during cross-examination by defence counsel.
This has given a new twist to the sensational case in which both the revered Kanchi Shankaracharyas — H.H.Jayendra Saraswati and H.H.Vijayendra Saraswati — have been framed by the Christian-controlled Governments of India and Tamil Nadu.
Background into this case:
The case pertains to the killing of A Sankararaman, the manager of the Sri Varadarajaswamy Temple in Kancheepuram, in the temple premises on September 3, 2004.
The Christian-controlled Governments of India and Tamil Nadu decided to frame these two revered Hindu Swamijis in this murder case, in order to silence them into submission. The Christian anger was palpable – These two Kanchi Swamijis had been able to effectively stop Christian conversions of economically poor and socially backward Hindus living in slums and fishermen’s colonies, by visiting their humble homes and organising religious pravachans (discourses), regular bhajan-kirtan sessions and empowering thousands of Hindu Dalit priests in village-temples across Tamil Nadu.
The last straw came when the Kanchi Shankaracharya, H.H. Jayendra Saraswathi, offered worship at a Dalit-run Hindu temple at Thumbaipatti near Melur in Madurai district on November 11, 2002. The Veerakali Amman temple, worshipped by people living in 18 villages, has a Dalit as the priest. Addressing a gathering at the Veerakali Amman temple after worship, the Kanchi Acharya emphasised that " Hindus were always living as a ‘family’, as brothers and sisters. Our Hindu religion did not entertain any discrimination and people all sections were treated as equals. Equality was the hallmark of the Hindu religion though there were some differences in society." The Acharya appealed to the people not to foster differences among themselves as the strength of the Hindu religion was its unity.
Exactly 2 years after this affectionate display of Hindu unity, the Kanchi Shankaracharya, H.H. Jayendra Saraswathi was arrested and thrown into prison, on framed charges, This was an anti-Hindu travesty that shocked the one billion Hindus around the world.
In the history spanning over 2500 years of the venerated Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, 11th November 2004 would remain the darkest day. The senior seer of the Kanchi Mutt – Kanchi Shankaracharya H.H.Jayendra Saraswati – was arrested on Deepavali (Diwali) Day in 2004 by the Christian-controlled Governments of India and Tamil Nadu.
According on orders from "higher authorities", the Tamil Nadu police bundled the Acharya into police vehicles and treated the revered Hindu Seer like a common criminal in custody – as the Indian media pronounced him to be guilty until proven innocent.
After two months of being locked up on trumped-up charges in Vellore Prison along with common criminals, the Supreme Court of India had on January 10, 2005 ordered the senior Shankaracharya’s release on bail for lack of evidence. While granting bail, the Supreme court had castigated the Tamil Nadu police for having gathered ‘no evidence or material’ against the seer. The senior Pontiff was released from Vellore Prison the next day.
In ostensible anger and "retaliation" against the judgement, the Tamil Nadu police arrested his successor and the junior seer of the Kanchi Mutt – Kanchi Shankaracharya H.H. Vijayendra Saraswati – on the same day the judgement was given (January 10, 2005). H.H. Vijayendra Saraswati, was hauled off to prison for a month until a Chennai High Court similarly ordered his release on bail on February 10, 2005. The junior Pontiff was released from Chennai Central Prison the next day.
The latest update:
On August 4, 2009 (Tuesday), when questioned by defence counsel K S Dinakaran before judge D Krishnaraja , Sankararaman’s wife Padma and daughter Uma Maitreyi said they had not seen anyone visiting their house on the day of his murder.
Sankararaman’s wife Padma, the first prosecution witness, and daughter Uma Maitreyi, the second prosecution witness, told the Principal District and Sessions court here that they had identified the accused based only on photographs provided by the police and had not seen them during the attack on Sankararaman.
They also told the court that the signature in the documents seized from their house was not that of Sankararaman.
During cross-examination by counsel K. S Dinakaran, both contradicted their statements made earlier to Special Public Prosecutor N. Devadass.
On April 2, 2009, during examination by the Public Prosecutor, the fifth prosecution witness K. Durai Kannu contradicted the statement he had made before the police and the Kancheepuram District Magistrate. After he deviated from his statement, Mr. Devadass had informed Principal District and Sessions Judge D. Krishnaraja that he was treating the witness as hostile. Another prosecution witness, Kumar, was also treated as hostile after he contradicted his statement during examination by the Special Public Prosecutor.
Source: www.kanchi-sathya.org
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