Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav. file | Photo Credit: PTI
Hindu right-wing groups in Lucknow and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav’s visit was marked with black flags after he attended the Maa Pitambara 108 Mahayagya on the banks of the Gomti in Daliganj, in protest against the party leader Statement of Swami Prasad Maurya On Ramcharitmanas.
Visibly disturbed by the protest, Mr Yadav alleged that the ruling BJP treats Dalits and backward castes as Shudras and warned the saffron party that a bad precedent was being set by the opposition leaders’ turbulent programmes. “BJP people consider Dalits as Shudras. They consider us backward and dalits as shudras (untouchables).
Former minister and party MLC Shri Maurya said that objectionable language has been used against backward castes, Dalits and tribals in Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas. “It is not true that crores of people read it. Tulsidas wrote for this [his] own happiness. But why abuse in the name of religion? Abusing the backward, dalits and tribals. I respect all religions. But if any community or caste is insulted in the name of religion then it is objectionable.
This led to protests by the BJP and several right-wing groups. The BJP alleged that the statement reflected his party’s ideology against Hinduism and Hindu deities. Mr. Maurya is considered a prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) face of the SP. He joined the party after resigning as a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government ahead of the 2022 assembly elections, as well as from the BJP, alleging injustice to OBCs in the saffron camp.
Earlier Mr. Maurya, whose statement on Ramcharitmanas had triggered a huge uproar, met Mr. Yadav at the party headquarters where he was asked to take up the issue of caste census. SP is demanding caste based census in UP