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Journalism of Courage
Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa clarified on Wednesday that the Tamil Nadu government had no plans to take over administration of the Kanchi Math as suggested by some quarters. ‘‘The Tamil Nadu government has regard and respect for the 2,500-year-old Math. The government wants the Math to uphold and protect the tenets and traditions of Hinduism. It is also keen that the Math’s image should not be sullied in any way… We don’t intend doing anything that could cripple the functions of the Math,’’ Jayalalithaa said in a statment to the Assembly.
‘‘Anyway, we did not take action in the issue hoping for kudos. Neither did we arrest him out of fear that inaction could invite flak. The government did whatever it only to uphold the rule of law,’’ she added.
Jayalalithaa said the confessional statement made by Kadiravan and Rajini, two of the prime accused in the Sankararaman murder case had confirmed the seer’s role in the murder, in hiring the assassins, arranging the fake surrender of five persons and so on.
‘‘It has also been confirmed that the Shankaracharya had had telephonic conversations with the associates of the killers,’’ she asserted.
Stating that the Shankaracharya was treated with due honour and respect when produced before the Magistrate in Kancheepuram and when he was taken to the Vellore prison, Jayalalithaa said, adding he was never harassed. ‘‘The rule of law was strictly followed,’’ she stated.
