UP BJP chief asks Akhilesh to clear SP’s stand on Swami Prasad Maurya’s remark on seers

LUCKNOW, (ANI): The Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary on Saturday asked Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to clear his party’s stand on whether they support the statements of SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya wherein he has allegedly compared Hindu seers with terrorists.

“Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya is continuously trying to spoil the social harmony of Uttar Pradesh which is marching on the path of development by insulting the faith of crores of Hindus by making baseless comments on Sanatan Dharma,” Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said in a series of tweets in Hindi.

“He has made yet another controversial statement by comparing the Hindu saints and their religious leaders with terrorists, superstitions and executioners. Akhilesh Yadav should clarify his and his party’s stand on this matter before the public or should we consider his silence as his support to Swami Prasad Maurya’s statement?” his other tweet read.

The remark has come against the backdrop of SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya where he called Hindu seers ‘terrorists’ and ‘devils’ after Ayodhya seer Jagadguru Paramhans on Friday demanded immediate action against him over his remark on Ramcharitmanas, an epic Hindu religious book which is based on Ramayana.

On Sunday, Maurya, considered a prominent OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, had sought a ban on the work composed by the 16th-century poet-saint Tulsidas alleging that Dalits and women have been “insulted” in Ramcharitmanas. The SP leader said, “I don’t have any issue with Ramcharitramanas but parts of it have insulting comments and sarcasm directed at particular castes and sects. Those should be removed.”

Speaking on the issue with ANI on Friday, Maurya said, “Those who threatened to slit my neck and tongue were seers or were from a particular caste. Had the same threat been made by a person belonging to some other religion, he would have been called a terrorist. Are the seers threatening to slit my tongue and neck not terrorists devils, and executioners? If they had, indeed, believed in the religion that they claim to espouse, they couldn’t have said such things.” Earlier in the day, Former Uttar Pradesh Minister Sidharth Nath Singh launched a scathing attack on Akhilesh Yadav and challenged him to throw out Maurya from the party over his remarks on Ramcharitmanas.

While talking to ANI, Sidharth Nath Singh said, “Swami Prasad Maurya has been continuously targeting the Hindu religion, Hindu beliefs and Ramcharitmanas. The Samajwadi Party keeps saying that it is not associated with the statements of Maurya. I ask Akhilesh Yadav to stop running away from the statements made by Maurya and distance himself from him.”

“If Akhilesh Yadav has the guts and respects the Hindus, their beliefs and Ramcharitmanas then throw out Swami Prasad Maurya from the party. Only then will we believe that Akhilesh Yadav does not support the statements made by Swami Prasad Maurya,” Sidharth Nath Singh added.

Earlier this month, the SP leader sparked a major controversy after he demanded the deletion of “insulting comments and sarcasm” targeted at particular castes and sects in Ramcharitmanas, a poem based on the epic Ramayana. (ANI)