Swami Prasad Maurya, the national general secretary of the Samajwadi Party has landed himself in another controversy. According to him, India has never been a Hindu Rashtra. He stated, “India cannot be a Hindu country now if it has never been one before. The nation’s constitution is built on a secular ideology in which Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians live in harmony and respect one another as brothers.”
He replied to a question regarding the statement of Dhirendra Krishna Shastri in which the Peethadhishwar of Bageshwar Dham asserted that India should now become a Hindu nation.
He further remarked that India had become free from slavery after a long time. “We must exercise caution around those who plot to sever the nation in order for freedom to last for thousands of years. Why can’t anybody else demand Khalistan or talk about partition on the basis of religion tomorrow if someone talks about Hindu Rashtra,” he questioned.
He mentioned that he welcomes everybody who believes in the Sanatan Dharma and Sanatan Upadesh which were delivered by Lord Buddha. “I hold fast to Sanatan Dharma. Lord Buddha preached ‘Es Dhammo Sanantano’ (This is Sanatan Dharma. The path of Buddha is the path of Dharma in the true sense.) and the words spoken by him are eternal. Since Lord Buddha is the source of all eternal religions, languages and teachings, I do not object if someone else adopts them.”
He also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed that while the caste census was discussed and pledges were made prior to coming to power, they turned their backs on it while in office. He termed the caste census as important for social justice. “Bharatiya Janta Party which violates the rights of dalits backward and deprived people is not conducting the census even after making a promise. Take this issue to every village and only then caste census would take place. This would be a true tribute to B.P. Mandal.”
He was addressing the Dr Lohia-Ambedkar Vichar Manch as the chief guest at the caste census discussion seminar on the occasion of BP Mandal Jayanti Celebrations 2023 at Feroze Gandhi College’s Indira Gandhi Auditorium in Uttar Pradesh on 25 August.
Swami Parasad Maurya’s close ties with controversies
The politician often finds himself in the soup owing to his inflammatory and divisive statements. He recently referred to the Hindu holy site of Badrinath as a Buddhist shrine while reacting to the proposed ASI (Archeological Survey of India) survey of the disputed structure at the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi.
He accused the BJP-led centre government of inviting only “Brahmin gurus” for the inauguration of the new parliament building while ignoring other religious leaders.
He accused that on the one hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi runs women empowerment programmes and on the other, the so-called Hindus who worship women during the time of Navratri talk about humiliating and tormenting women. “Under the garb of Dharma, why do they talk about humiliating, assaulting and torturing the whole Shudra community,” he asked at an event in February.
He also stirred controversy in January of this year with his insulting remarks about Shri Ramcharitmanas which was written by Goswami Tulsidas in the 17th century and sought to remove the alleged objectionable verses from the holy scripture. He charged that it promotes social discrimination and spreads hatred in an interview with a news channel.
