Lucknow: Samajwadi Social gathering (SP) chief Swami Prasad Maurya has sparked a row claiming that the Badrinath Temple, a key pilgrimage website for Hindus in Uttarakhand, was as soon as a “Buddhist mutt”, with the Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP) and different politicians slamming his remark.
Maurya made the assertion to a number of media channels amid the continued authorized tussle over the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, and months after he stated that some chaupayis (verses) of the epic poem Ramcharitmanas had been “anti-backward (caste) and anti-women”.
The Gyanvapi Mosque dispute was raised by the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS in the course of the marketing campaign for the development of a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. It’s alleged {that a} Hindu temple was partially razed to construct the Seventeenth-Century mosque.
Chatting with mediapersons Thursday on the difficulty of a scientific survey on the premises of the Gyanvapi advanced, Maurya — a former five-time MLA and former UP cupboard minister who was with the BJP until 2021 — demanded that there ought to be an investigation into the standing of all Hindu spiritual websites, too, as a result of most such websites had been previously Buddhist “mutts”.
“If there’s a discuss a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India, then why goal solely Gyanvapi masjid? There ought to be an investigation into the standing of all Hindu pilgrimage (websites) as a result of I do know that the majority of them as soon as was once Buddhist mutts. Even Badrinath Dham till the eighth Century was a Buddhist mutt. They (pilgrimage websites) had been arrange after demolishing the mutts and therefore, if outdated skeletons are to be dug out, there will probably be no finish to the controversy,” he stated.
“Because of this there ought to be established order on the standing of (spiritual websites) within the nation, to make sure brotherhood and concord,” added Maurya.
Chatting with ThePrint Friday on the identical topic, Maurya alleged that the BJP “has at all times resorted to jhooth ki kheti (spreading of lies)” and “politics of polarisation by elevating masjid-mandir points earlier than elections”.
“The BJP has at all times resorted to jhooth ki kheti and spreading of poison to hurt Hindu-Muslim unity. It’s the politics of polarisation earlier than each election. The masjid-mandir situation is being raised when the Structure talks about equal respect to all religions, sects and communities in India,” he stated.
“Therefore, I stated that established order on spiritual websites as declared on 15 August, 1947, ought to be accepted to make sure communal concord within the nation. When our custom talks about vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one household), why this hatred in the direction of these staying in India?” he questioned.
When requested to enumerate the names of Hindu temples that he believed had been established by demolishing Buddhist monasteries, Maurya stated he didn’t wish to amplify the controversy however might cite dozens of such examples if required.
Maurya’s touch upon Badrinath Temple drew criticism not solely from the BJP in Uttar Pradesh but in addition the present and former chief ministers of Uttarakhand.
UP BJP spokesperson Awanish Tyagi instructed ThePrint that the SP chief had been discarded by the general public and was determined.
“Maurya has no work other than dividing the general public. He has made divisive statements on the Ramcharitmanas up to now and now this. His job is to create fissures and disturbance in society. The general public has discarded him and he’s determined,” he stated.
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‘Unlucky’
One other BJP spokesperson, Manish Shukla, focused the politics of the Samajwadi Social gathering.
“Prior to now too, on the sign of (SP chief) Akhilesh Yadav, Maurya and (get together leaders) S.T. Hasan and Shafiqur Rahman Barq would make such statements. Akhilesh stopped the 84-km procession in Ayodhya (an initiative of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad) throughout his regime and stopped giving funds for the Ramayana mela there that was began by SP ideologue Ram Manohar Lohia,” he stated.
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami and former CM Tirath Singh Rawat additionally slammed the SP chief.
Chatting with ANI Thursday, Dhami stated the Badrinath Temple and pilgrimage website had been a centre of religion and devotion for individuals from the world over and Maurya’s assertion was “unlucky”.
“The form of (Opposition) alliance he’s a part of, the remark is on anticipated strains as a result of they imagine in polarising every part,” he stated.
In a tweet later Thursday, Dhami alleged that Maurya’s assertion mirrored the “anti-national and anti-religious pondering of the Congress and its supporters”.
“It additionally displays that their ideology is influenced by that of (banned) SIMI (College students’ Islamic Motion of India) and PFI (Fashionable Entrance of India),” he wrote in Hindi.
करोड़ों श्रद्धालुओं की आस्था के केंद्र भू बैकुंठ श्री बदरीनाथ धाम पर समाजवादी पार्टी के नेता द्वारा की गई टिप्पणी दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है।
“महाठगबंधन” के एक सदस्य के रूप में समाजवादी पार्टी के एक नेता द्वारा दिया गया यह बयान कांग्रेस और उसके सहयोगियों की देश व धर्म विरोधी सोच को…
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) July 27, 2023
Rawat instructed the media Friday that Maurya’s feedback had been disrespectful to Hindus. Emphasising that the Badrinath website had been a centre of devotion for years, he stated that good sense ought to prevail over Maurya.
Maurya, nevertheless, took to Twitter Friday to query these “remembering religion now” and questioned if the religion of others was vital as nicely.
“Akhir mirchi lagi na, ab aastha yaad aa rahi hai. (So now, persons are upset, now they’re remembering religion!) Is the religion of others not religion,” he wrote.
आखिर मिर्ची लगी न, अब आस्था याद आ रही है। क्या औरों की आस्था, आस्था नहीं है? इसलिए तो हमने कहा था किसी की आस्था पर चोट न पहुँचे इसलिए 15 अगस्त 1947 के दिन जिस भी धार्मिक स्थल की जो स्थिति थी, उसे यथास्थिति मानकर किसी भी विवाद से बचा जा सकता है। अन्यथा ऐतिहासिक सच स्वीकार करने के…
— Swami Prasad Maurya (@SwamiPMaurya) July 28, 2023
“Because of this I had stated that to make sure that nobody’s religion is damage, there ought to be a established order on the standing of all spiritual websites as on 15 August, 1947, which will help keep away from any controversy. In any other case, one ought to be prepared to simply accept historic truths. Badrinath was a Buddhist mutt until the eighth century and was transformed right into a Hindu pilgrimage website and that is the one fact,” he added.
Devoted to the god Vishnu, the Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district is one in all a gaggle of 4 pilgrimage websites which are central to the bhakti custom in Hinduism.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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