CoverStory
tTHEl{ D0UES MEET: fhe Sankanacharya
The smlllng salnt
The Kanchi Sank ar acharya is eminently
suited for the peacemaker's role
By FAIIYA IMAM ALl/Kanchi
anchi Sankaracharya
Jayendra Saraswati is
gentle but tenacious person.
The gentleness aids him in being
persuasive and the tenacity goads him
to try and try again. FIe will need both
these qualities in abu.ndance as he
makes yet another effort to solve the
Ayodhya problem.
The Kanchi mutL officials privately
term it the Ayodhya match. (The seer,
it is said, likes cricket.) The
Sankaracharya, however, must know
by now that it is a rather sticky wicket.
That is probably why he is being
very careful this time. His previous
effort was bogged down in
fundamentalist sloganeering. Since
then he has not talked about 'formula
Ayodhya'. But he was in constant touch
with religious leaders of both the
communities. The latest proposal,
which he has forwarded to the All
India Muslim Personal Law Board
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' has maintained, would hurt
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obviously emerged from these
confabulations. All he would say, a
month &Bo, was that he "was working
a in tand.em with leaders of both
religions."
Last time, the seer managed to get
the Viswha Hindu Parishad to the
negotiating table. The Muslim leaders
were a bit reluctant. This time, the
\IHP has scaled up its rhetoric and has
made critical remarks on the
Sankaracharya but the Muslim leaders
have responded positively.
TheVHP leaders queeredthe pitch
by statirrg that Kashi and Mathura
issues would be taken up. (In a
previous interview to The Week the
Sankaracharya had expressed the hope
that'Ayodhya-like" issues would' not
be raised again.) Probably the
organisation is smarting from the last
experience. The Sankaracharya had
persuaded the VHP leaders to agree to
abide by the court verdict. In return,
he promised, he would tryto persuade
the Prime Minister to allot them the
giving an anTawa tpamto Pnime
Minister Atal Bihari Vqipayee
land next to the disputed site for puja.
This did not work out .
There is much speculation-on the
seer's proposal. But those close to him
say there are two'solutions' which will
not have his blessings. One, a court
settlement and two, the building of a
neutral structure. A court decision, he
the
sentiments of either of the
communities. The disputed site is
sacred to both Hindus and Muslims
and so a neutral structure is also ouL
of the question.
The Sankaracharya rhas rbeeri
B
secretive this time because he does not
want the initiative to be destroyed in
the beginning itself. Journalists are
welcome to seek blessings,'but my lips
are sealed until July 7l' He too has
learnt lessons from his last experience.
Some Hindu and Muslim
organisations have questioned the
seer's right to intervene in the issue.
But he remains unfazed. "Politics must
be delinked from religion if the
Ayodhya issue is to be solved," he has
said. But politically speaking, his
strength comes from having a hopeful
ally in Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, who has encouraged
(actuallypersuaded, many say) him to
mediate.
The Sankaracharya has studied rffi
issue in detail. He has received inputY
from former bureaucrats, diplomats
and top politicians who visit the mutb.
'Also, he has read up alot onAyodhya,"
said a mutt official.
He has also done much for the
temple town, focusing on the socio-
economic uplift of the Ayodhya
populace. The seer set up the Kanchi
AyodhyaNagara Development Trust a
year ago with five trustees (two Hindus
and two Muslims from Ayodhya and
one official from the mutt).
The trust promotes self-
employment of members of both the
communities. It embodies the
Sankaracharya's ability to balance
religiosity with the neeos of the
conlrlrunity. The exact'balance' which
is needed to resolve the Ayodhya
rssue. I