Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Swami Prasad Maurya on Sunday demanded the government to either ban the Ramcharitmanas composed by Goswami Tulsidas or delete certain portions of the epic that as per him showed the majority population of backwards and dalits in a bad light.
Attacking Maurya over his comments, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman said it was done deliberately to split Hindus and for religious appeasement. Speaking to a television news channel, Maurya, an MLC and former U.P. minister, said humiliation of any caste in the name of religion should be objected to.
He further said there are several crores of people who have either not read the epic or do not read it. Maurya went on to claim that it was under the British Raj that dalits and women got the right to read and write.
As per Maurya, Goswami Tulsidas accorded low caste to ‘Shudras’. In a video clip from his talk with the TV channel, which has gone viral on social media, Maurya is seen purportedly saying: “Crores of people have either not read or do not read Ramcharitmanas. All this is rubbish. This was written by Tulsidas for his own happiness.”
Earlier, Bihar education minister Chandra Shekhar had alleged that the epic promoted discrimination and spread hatred in the society. Attacking Maurya, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said: “Be it Bihar’s education minister of U.P.’s Swami Prasad Maurya, they are deliberately--under their political agenda--are making insulting comments against Hindu gods and goddesses. There are two reasons behind this--one is to split Hindus on the lines of castes and the second is religious appeasement. All this is nervousness due to ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.” Maurya, who was a minister in the Yogi 1.0 government, had joined the SP ahead of the 2022 U.P. assembly polls.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, Bihar education minister Chandra Shekhar had alleged that the epic promoted discrimination and spread hatred in the society. Attacking Maurya, BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said: “Be it Bihar’s education minister of U.P.’s Swami Prasad Maurya, they are deliberately--under their political agenda--are making insulting comments against Hindu gods and goddesses. There are two reasons behind this--one is to split Hindus on the lines of castes and the second is religious appeasement. All this is nervousness due to ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’.” Maurya, who was a minister in the Yogi 1.0 government, had joined the SP ahead of the 2022 U.P. assembly polls.
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