On Tuesday (1st October), Sai Baba statues were removed from several temples in Varanasi as part of a campaign launched by the ‘Sanatan Rakshak Dal’. The Hindu rights group removed a 5-foot-tall Sai idol from the Bada Ganesh Temple in Lohatia. Members of Sanatan Rakshak Dal took the idol of Sai from here wrapped it in white cloth and immersed it in the Ganga river. Similar demands to remove Sai Baba idols from Hindu temples have been raised in Lucknow and several other cities.
Sai Baba or Chan Miya? Sai Baba idols were removed from 14 temples in Varanasi, UP!
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) October 3, 2024
"Anyone who wishes to worship Sai Baba should establish their own temple & perform the rituals; there is no opposition to that," Says the Hindu Org claiming Sai Baba was a muslim Chand Miya pic.twitter.com/mCqmMT5o3o
Speaking about why Sai Baba statues were being removed, Rammu Guru, the head priest of the Bada Ganesh temple in Varanasi said: “Sai Baba was being worshipped without proper knowledge, which is forbidden according to scriptures.”
Meanwhile, Ajay Sharma, state president of the Sanatan Rakshak Dal said: “Only the worship of Lord Shiva, the supreme deity, should take place in Kashi. Respecting the sentiments of devotees, statues of Sai Baba have already been removed from 14 temples. In the coming days, statues will also be removed from the Agastyakunda and Bhuteshwar temples.”
Notably, on Wednesday (2nd October), Sanatan Rakshak Dal leader Ajay Sharma was detained by the local police after he along with other activists removed Sai Baba statues from some Hindu temples. While Sharma said that Sai Baba’s idol will be removed from 50 more temples, several locals have raised objections.
Notably, Sai Baba, a renowned spiritual figure, is noted for his teachings on love, forgiveness, and compassion. Sai Baba is believed to be revered by several people belonging to the Hindu and other religious communities. However, it is contended by a significant section of Hindus and Hindu rights groups that Sai Baba was a Muslim and thus, he should not be worshipped by Hindus. While some of the Sai devotees also believe Sai Baba to be an incarnation of Lord Dattatreya, however, there is no reference of the same in Vedic or Puranic texts.
According to the website of the Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust in Shirdi, Sai Baba is revered as one of the greatest saints ever seen in India, endowed with extraordinary powers, and worshipped as a God incarnate. (SAI stands for Sakshaat Ishwar) (God, the absolute).
Emphasising Sai Baba’s life and teachings transcending the religious barriers, the Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust says “An outstanding aspect of Sai Baba is that he is beyond distinctions of religion, caste or creed. He embodied all religions and preached the Universal religion of Love. Devotees of all faiths find their meeting point in the Sai and people from all communities and all walks of life are united by the great love and reverence Baba inspires in them.”
The Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust also mentioned how Sai Baba addressed God as “Allah”. It states that Sai Baba spent much time at a mosque and went on to describe himself as the servant of Allah whose soul constantly remembers Allah. “Baba had great regard for his Hindu devotees and their Gurus and he responded to their needs and permitted worship according to the Hindu and other religious rituals. At the same time, his dwelling place was a Masjid (Mosque) and the name of Allah was ever on his lips. He described himself as in Service to GOD (ALLAH) and as a soul ever remembering ALLAH -(YAD – A – HAKKA),” the Saibaba Sansthan Trust states.
“People today flock to Shirdi in ever-increasing numbers to pay homage to the Divine and to experience the truth of Baba’s promise that He would be active in answering devotees’ prayers even from his tomb. Like Ten Commandments BABA has given eleven assurances to humanity for welfare. Baba said that he was a slave in the service of those who loved him that he was ever living to help those who turn to him and that he has to take care of his children day and night. He then taught the values of total surrender to the Almighty Master (ALLAH MALIK EK- The only ONE) and experience his grace,” it adds.
BJP and Congress condemn removal of Sai Baba idols in Varanasi
On Wednesday, Congress and BJP leaders in Maharashtra condemned the removal of Sai Baba statues from various temples in Varanasi, saying disrespect to the 19th-century spiritual leader and said that the removal of Sai Baba statues is intolerable. “Sai Baba was a revered figure and nobody should be allowed to insult him. “This campaign to remove his statues should stop,” BJP leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule said. Similarly, Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat called the incident “unfortunate”.
When Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati called Saibaba as “Chand Miya”
Back in 2014, the late Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati launched a campaign to urge Hindus not to worship Sai Baba since he was not a Hindu. He even called Sai Baba as Chand Miya emphasising his Muslim identity. Swaroopanand Saraswati had even released posters featuring Lord Hanuman ‘driving out’ Sai with a tree trunk.
Slamming the Sai Baba Trust, Swaroopanand Saraswati had alleged that the Trust was behind ‘ruining’ Hindu Dharma by projecting Sai Baba as superior to Lord Hanuman and other Hindu gods. Sai Baba’s real name was Chand Miya who is dead and we treat him as a ghost and not God,” Swaroopanand said back then.
In April last year, Pandit Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, the Mahant of Bageshwar Dham opined that Sai Baba was not a Hindu god. He said that Sai Baba can be called a saint or fakir, but he cannot be called a God. He has also said that no vulture can pretend to be a lion.
“Shankaracharya ji of our Dharma has not given Sai Baba the place of a deity. Shankaracharya is the Prime Minister of the Hindu Dharma. Therefore, obeying him is the duty of every Sanatani. Any saint of our Dharma, be it Goswami Tulsidas ji or Surdas ji, is a saint, a great man, a Yug Purush, a Kalpa Purush but not a God,” Shastri said. Later, an FIR was filed against Shastri for his comments on Sai Baba.
OpIndia has documented incidents in the recent years wherein Muslim mobs vandalised Sai Baba idols, pelted stones in Gujarat and other cases, attempts were made to convert his temple into a Mazar in Uttar Pradesh.
