BHUBANESWAR: The Shankaracharya of Goyardhan Seethe, Puri, Swami Nischalanani Saraswati has called for restrictions on the activities of Mother Teresa, and expressed concern over the mushroom, ‘growth of fake “shankaracharyas,” ‘The Swami, who loves to create controversies, said the Center should impose some restrictions on the activities of Mother Teresa as she was engaging in large-scale conversion, particularly in the northeastern states, in the name of serving the people. He said while the missionary leader ‘was welcome to help people in need, she should not be allowed to resort to conversions. Asserting that his allegations were based on discussions with people including religious leaders during visits to Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, he regretted that although he was a Shankaracharya, he was permitted to visit Nagaland only with inner line permit and that, too, not as a religious leader but as a tourist.
Disillusioned by the experience, the religious leader demanded that Article 370 of the Constitution, which confers special status on Kashmir, ‘should be abrogated in the interest of unity and integrity of the country, At the same time, he said, efforts should be made to bring back Kashmir pandits living as refugees in other states, to the Valley before elections are held there, Expressing anguish over persistence of vexed problems like the Ramjambhoomi imbroglio, he suggested that all the shankaracharyas of known “pact has” should be brought ‘on common platform to show direction to the country and find solutions to its problems, Sringri Mutt i Kamataka could be a possible venue for such a meeting of religious leaders, he said.
Stating that there were seven to eight shankaracharyas in the country, including those who headed the permanent pact has set up by Adishankarcharya, the Swami lashed ‘out against the emergence of fake shankaracharyas in the country, who, hallowed, were being propped up by political parties and leaders.
The Congress, BJP and the ‘Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh “Yadav had all installed their own shankaracharyas to support their political causes, he said and added that during his visit to the Kumbhia mela last year he was informed by the authorities there that 30 arrived before him. Calling for an end to this trend he said the political parties should refrain from sponsoring shankanacharyas, for if religious leaders were influenced by them they would not be able to discharge their duty of showing direction to politics, in that case, the Shankaracharyaas would become like MPs and MLAs, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 27, 1995
