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Ramcharitmanas row: Swami Prasad Maurya alleges BJP government not acting against those threatening him
Swami Prasad Maurya made the allegation a day after his supporters allegedly scuffled with Raju Das, priest of the Hanumangarhi temple (Ayodhya), in a Lucknow hotel during a political conclave organised by a television news channel on Wednesday
Samajwadi Party (SP) national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya on Thursday alleged that the BJP government’s inaction against those threatening him indicated that it wanted to get him killed.
Swami Prasad Maurya made the allegation a day after his supporters allegedly scuffled with Raju Das, priest of the Hanumangarhi temple (Ayodhya), in a Lucknow hotel during a political conclave organised by a television news channel on Wednesday.
Raju Das had earlier announced a reward of ₹21 lakh for anyone beheading Maurya after the SP leader triggered a controversy on the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas penned by Tulsidas.
The row erupted after Swami Prasad Maurya on January 22 called some verses of the Hindu epic Ramcharitmanas discriminatory and disrespectful to women, Dalits and backwards.
“The so-called seers who are issuing threats to me are nothing short of terrorists and criminals in the garb of saints,” Maurya reiterated at a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday.
“Such people have been announcing bounties on my ear, nose, throat and life,” SP Maurya said.
“The government should have identified them and acted against them. Instead, the government is sitting pretty. This indicates that the BJP’s state government and the central government are with the conspirators and the BJP wants to get me killed,” he said.
“The government is shying away from taking action. I had sent letters about my security concerns twice to the prime minister, to the President, and to the U.P. principal secretary (home). I also wrote to the police commissioner in Lucknow. I asked them to take action against those threatening (me) and issuing bounties on my life, but no action has been taken so far. The inaction emboldened those elements leading to yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) incident.”
Swami Prasad Maurya said several people who had been threatening him were present at the event.
“Before me, the CM and deputy chief ministers came as speakers and went. But by the time my turn came, there was hardly any security at the venue,” he said.
“Irrespective of the threats, I will continue to raise the voice of women, tribals, Dalits and the backwards. I will continue, to struggle against those misbehaving in the garb of seers,” he said.
The Samajwadi Party leader also said he was making an appeal to “true saints and seers” to help in making changes in the Ramcharitmanas.
Indicating the attack was initiated by Raju Das, Maurya said: “Scanning the CCTV footage would make it clear who attacked whom.”
Both Maurya and Das were invited to the Wednesday’s programme. After the alleged incident, Raju Das said that he will lodge an FIR against Maurya and his supporters who “attacked me when I was moving out of the hotel.”
In response to Swami Prasad Maurya’s allegations, Uttar Pradesh BJP spokesman Harish Srivastava said, “Under BJP rule, none has to fear. Opposition leaders today are able to walk freely in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk where terrorists called the shots before 2014. So when Srinagar is free of terror, the rest of India has nothing to fear. Anyone who feels threatened by anyone can approach the police. The BJP has enforced the rule of law.”
