PRAYAGRAJ Internet was taken by storm on Monday after pictures of a peculiar kind of banner went viral on social media platforms. These banners, which were put up at several places in the Arail area of Prayagraj by unknown person(s), said ‘Main Shudra Hoon, Mujhe Garv Hai’ (I am from the Shudra community, and I am proud of it). After police found about these banners, they were taken down.
These ‘Shudra-pride’ banners also had a slogan saying -- “Na paisa lagta hai, Na kharcha lagta hain, Bas Jai Bhim boliye, bada achcha lagta hai” (it doesn’t take money, it doesn’t take any expenditure, just raise the slogan of Jai Bhim, it feels really good). The banner also had photographs of eight local residents of the area and their names as well.
After the picture of the banner went viral on the internet, several netizens concluded that they must have been put up in support of Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who has sparked a controversy with his remark that some verses of the Ramcharitmanas ‘look down upon the low-castes’. However, some others felt that it was BJP’s doing.
Meanwhile, Shiv Darshan Yadav, whose photograph was on the banner, has claimed that the poster was neither in support of the BJP nor the SP. He said, “At present, many people across the country are making statements about Ramcharitmanas as per their own understanding but the real issue is related to the word ‘Shudra’. We are proud of our Shudra community here. We believe in maintaining peace and harmony between different communities.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Shiv Darshan Yadav, whose photograph was on the banner, has claimed that the poster was neither in support of the BJP nor the SP. He said, “At present, many people across the country are making statements about Ramcharitmanas as per their own understanding but the real issue is related to the word ‘Shudra’. We are proud of our Shudra community here. We believe in maintaining peace and harmony between different communities.”
{{/usCountry}}Interestingly, the banner also received support of local BJP leader Sanjay Srivastava, who said local youths put up the poster to give a message of social harmony. Nevertheless, Arail police outpost in-charge Parmanand has said that a probe is being carried out to find who put up the poster. He added that no one has, so far, raised any objection to the banner or filed a complaint in the matter.