CHENNAI: Leaders cutting across the political spectrum on Wednesday came down heavily on Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi of Kanchi mutt for sitting through Tamil Thaai Vaazthu at an event here and demanded that he express regret for the “unfortunate” incident.
In a damage control exercise, the Kanchi Sankara mutt claimed the junior seer was “meditating” when the invocation for Mother Tamil was played at a book release function on Tuesday, which saw Governor Banwarilal Purohit and top BJP leaders in attendance.
While Opposition parties – DMK, PMK, MDMK and Left – condemned Vijeyandra’s act, the ruling AIADMK seemed to support the junior seer of the Kanchi mutt. School education minister ‘MaFoi’ K Pandiarajan said he does not think that Vijayendra did not stand up deliberately and suggested that an unnecessary row is being stoked.
“There is no two opinions on the fact that Tamil Thaai Vaazthu should be respected. And as far as my memory goes after watching the TV footage, the junior seer of the Kanchi mutt seemed to be in meditation and may be he thought it was not proper to stand in the middle. I think he did not do deliberately,” Pandiarajan said.
Denying that the junior pontiff had slighted anyone during the recitation of the Tamil Thaai Vaazthu, the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham said the acharya was engrossed in meditation when the anthem was played.
“The acharya sat and meditated when the Tamil Thaai Vaazthu was played at the event, as he considered it as a song to invoke the goddess. Normally, the Kanchi acharyas sit and meditate when prayer songs are sung,” a spokesman of the mutt said.
At the release of a Sanskrit-Tamil dictionary penned by BJP H. Raja’s father Hariharan Sharma, only the junior seer was seated while the Tamil anthem was played, while Governor Banwarilal Purohit and others stood through it. Both Raja, who jumps the gun to express his opinion on every other issue, and BJP maintained silence.
Refusing to buy the Kanchi mutt’s response, DMK working president M. K. Stalin said Vijayendra not standing for the Tamil anthem was “highly condemnable” and questioned why he did not meditate when national anthem was played. “I think he has disrespected Tamil Thaai Vaazthu and has insulted it. What he did was absolutely wrong,” Stalin said.
While condemning the junior seer, PMK founder S Ramadoss demanded that he express regret for the unfortunate incident. “Though Banwarilal Purohit is not a Tamil, he stood for the anthem and respected it. But, none can justify the act of Vijayendra not standing for anthem. He should express regret for the incident,” he said.
Poet and lyricist Vairamuthu, who was recently caught in a row for his controversial remarks on Andal, also condemned the incident and said both national anthem and Tamil anthem should be respected. MDMK chief Vaiko, CPI’s R. Mutharasan and other political leaders also condemned his action.
