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NEW YORK, NEW YORK, December 1, 2004: Indian-Americans have demonstrated in front of the Indian Consulate General seeking the immediate release of Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti peetham. About 150 people, braving cold weather, raised slogans and held placards. Nearly 30 organizations were represented in the two-hour demonstration held yesterday afternoon. “No justice for Hindus in India,” “Hindu saints in jails, criminals in government” and “He should be treated innocent till proven guilty” were some of the slogans raised and written on placards. A few leaders such as Dr. Narinder M. Kukar, former head of the trustees’ board of the Association of Indians in America; A. V. Raghunath, an individual closely associated with the Sankaracharya Mutt and based in neighboring Long Island; and Uma Mysorekar, head of the Ganesh temple in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens, were among the speakers. The demonstrators submitted a memorandum to Consul General P. Rath on the occasion. “The state government of Tamil Nadu and the central government should heed carefully the growing discontent and anger of the global Hindu community,” Narain Kataria, main coordinator of the protest demonstration, said. “This is not secularism; it is simply anti-Hinduism,” he charged. The demonstrators also said the law should take its own course and a “trial by (news) media should not be held.” Organizers claimed up to 250 people not only from across New York but also from neighboring states attended the gathering.

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