Nearly a week after maintaining silence, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday strongly defended senior party leader Swami Prasad Maurya who demanded a ban on certain verses in the โRamcharitmanasโ โ a popular version of the Ramayana penned by Tulsidas โ for allegedly โinsultingโ certain castes.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister has been facing protests by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and right-wing groups since Maurya demanded the removal of the passages on January 22.
โI respect all religions but disrespecting any religion or any individual cannot be allowedโฆ I have only demanded that certain verses which are disrespectful towards women, tribals, Dalits and backward classes, should be removed,โ Maurya, who served as a minister in the BJP government before his dramatic exit just before the Assembly elections last year.
Speaking to reporters in Mainpuri on Monday, Akhilesh said, โNo one is against any religious text, no one is against Lord Ram or Ramcharitmanas. Since the chief minister is a yogi and comes from a religious background, I request him to read that chaupai (quadruplet). Can he recite it in the Assembly?โ
The verse in question reads: โDhol ganwar, sudra, pushu, naari; sakal taadna ke adhikariโ.
Many groups of OBCs and SC communities have staged protests against the verse demanding its removal.
Referring to the word โsudraโ, referring to people belonging to lower strata of the caste system, Akhilesh asked whether he is a sudra โ a word considered derogatory โ or not. โLet the CM read this chaupai (quadruplet).
The Samajwadi Party leader said that he was harassed by some people belonging to the BJP and its ideological parent the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while visiting a temple on Sunday.
Meanwhile, various controversial Hindu seers have jumped into the controversy, damning the leaders making comments against the Ramcharitmanas.
On Sunday, the head priest of Ayodhyaโs Tapasvi Chhawni Temple, Mahant Paramhans Das reportedly announced a cash reward of โน500 for whoever kills Maurya, who is currently a member of UPโs Legislative Council.
Mayawati, UPโs former CM and the boss of Mauryaโs former party โ the Bahujan Samaj Party (BJP), said that the OBC leaderโs comments against the religious text are aimed at benefitting the SP and the ruling BJP in elections.
In a series of tweets, the BSP president said that the SP is following the BJPโs design of creating new controversies for political gains.
โThe BJPโs political identity of creating new controversies for narrow political and electoral interests, spreading ethnic and religious hatred, creating hysteria, and religious conversions etc are well known. But the same political colour of the SP, under the guise of the โRamcharitmanasโ, is sad and unfortunate,โ Mayawati said.
