On March 5, the general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union and general secretary of All India Jat Mahasabha Yudhvir Singh spewed venom against idol worshipping. Speaking at Jat Mahasabha in Jaipur, Rajasthan, Yudhvir Singh said, “If you want to become Hindu, you have to become a member of a particular group. If you are not a member of that particular group, you cannot remain Hindu. Why? Why can’t you be Hindu? Who will give us a certificate of being Hindu or not? We were, are and will be Hindu. No one can snatch our rights from us.”
He added, “They talk about Ram. They argue with us. They question us. Our Ram is with us while sleeping, while being awake or in anything we do. When a farmer opens the ropes of his bulls to take them to the farm, he says, ‘take the name of Ram’. When he starts using his plough, he says, ‘take the name of Ram’. Whenever he performs an auspicious deed, he takes the name of Ram. But he does not go to a temple to offer water.”
Questioning the attendees if they remember seeing their ancestors going to temples, he said, “Have you seen any of your ancestors going to a temple? Jat of today has changed. Our ancestors had their Ram with them. Ram used to live with them in their pockets. They would take him out and meet him. But today, we are going to temples seeking Ram.”
Calling priests frauds, he added, “A priest asked to offer water to the idol. [I told him] It is a stone statue. A sculpturist in Makrana makes it. Pandit said he did pran pratishta in it. I asked why you did not do pran pratishtha of the dead body of your father, mother and relatives. He was making us fool.”
He further said, “50 years ago, there were no temples in Jat villages. There were Shivalayas, and women would offer milk there. There were no priests. There was no pretense or hypocrisy. But today, our children are unaware [of the history].”
Yudhvir is a close associate of the infamous farmer leader Rakesh Tikait. He was also present on the stage with Tikait during the protests against farm laws in 2021.
आज भारत जोड़ो यात्रा के दौरान अंबाला में श्री राकेश टिकैत जी, श्री युद्धवीर सिंह जी समेत दर्जनों किसान नेताओं की श्री राहुल गांधी जी से खेती-किसानी व कृषि मजदूरों के हित में सार्थक चर्चा हुई। pic.twitter.com/YX5FGf9YTY
— Haryana Congress (@INCHaryana) January 9, 2023
On January 9, 2023, Yudhvir was seen with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra along with Yogendra Yadav, Rakesh Tikait, and others.
