Lucknow, Aug 29 (IANS): Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya has kicked up another controversy by questioning Hindu religion and targetting Brahmanism.
Maurya has now attacked ‘Brahmanism’ and called Hinduism “deceitful” and “a hoax.”
Posting a video on X of a speech he made at an event in Lucknow, Maurya wrote: “The roots of Brahminism are very deep and the reason behind all the disparity is also Brahminism. There is no religion called Hindu, Hinduism is just a hoax. There is a conspiracy to trap Dalits, tribals and backward people of this nation by calling the same Brahmin religion as Hindu religion. If there was a Hindu religion then tribals, Dalits, and backward people would have been respected but what an irony.”
His remarks sparked a row among social media users, with a section counter attacking him and charging him of spreading hatred.
In December-January, this year, Maurya had courted controversy with repeated remarks on ‘Ramcharitmanas’.
He had said that Ramcharitmanas, written by Tulsidas, used derogatory language against backwards, Dalits, tribals, and women.
Then recently, he called ‘Badrinath and Kedarnath, originally Buddhist monasteries.
“If the BJP tries to find a temple in every mosque, it would cost them dearly. If they try to find a temple in every mosque, then people too will begin to find a Buddhist monastery in every temple,” he stated.
Swami Prasad Maurya, the minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, had joined the SP ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls after resigning from the BJP and the minister’s post.
Before being a BJP minister in the Yogi government, Maurya had also been a minister in the Mayawati government.
The Samajwadi Party has, however, distanced itself from Maurya’s comments.
SP secretary, Rajendra Chaudhary, when asked about Swami Prasad Maurya’s fresh comments, said, “They are his own comments, made in a personal capacity”.
A senior leader of the Samajwadi Party, I.P. Singh, expressed his discontent with Maurya’s recent remarks. He said, “It would be prudent for Swami Prasad Maurya to refrain from making frequent comments on religious matters. While you may have adopted Buddhism several years ago, it is not necessary to consistently criticize the Hindu religion. Such concerns were not voiced during your five-year tenure with the BJP.”