The BJP on August 28 alleged that poisonous statements were being made against the Hindu religion by Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders on the instructions of party president Akhilesh Yadav. “[Made] on the instructions of SP chief Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, poisonous statements of the party leaders will finish the SP. All the problems will be solved with the mantra of everyone’s development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” U.P. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, a leading Other Backward Classes (OBC) face of the saffron party in U.P., said.
SP general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya, who is known to make controversial remarks, had on Sunday described Hinduism as a “hoax”, adding there was “no religion called Hindu”, and it was a “conspiracy to trap Dalits, tribals and Backward Classes of this country”. This led to an uproar.
“The roots of Brahminism are very deep and the reason for all the disparity is also Brahminism itself. There is no religion called Hindu. Hinduism is just a hoax. There is a conspiracy to trap the Dalits, tribals and backward people of this country by calling the same Brahmin religion as Hindu religion, which is actually Brahmin religion. If there was Hindu religion then tribals would have been respected, Dalits would have been respected, Backward Classes would have been respected,” Mr. Swami Prasad Maurya said.
The SP distanced itself from the statement, with party leaders calling on Mr. Swami Prasad Maurya to refrain from speaking on religious issues.
“Swami Prasad Maurya should refrain from speaking on religious issues every day. He accepted Buddhism years ago. It does not mean that he should criticise Hinduism continuously. He did not raise these issues after being in the Bharatiya Janata Party for five years. The party (SP) cannot agree with such views. These may be his personal opinion,” I.P. Singh, a senior SP leader and former U.P. Minister, said, adding the fight should be for the caste census, and for the rights of the Most Backward and most downtrodden classes.
