Stop vitiating atmosphere, gods have no caste: Shankaracharya’s message to BJP over Lord Hanuman caste row
The advice came in the wake of UP Religious Affairs Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary describing Lord Hanuman as a Jat. Earlier, a UP BJP MLC, Bukkal Nawab, called Lord Hanuman a Muslim.
Mathura: A Hindu seer has advised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other politicians to stop vitiating the atmosphere by randomly attributing castes and communities to Lord Hanuman. Swami Adhokshjanand Deo Tirth on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to spell out their stand on the issue and restrain party leaders from making disrespectful remarks about gods and goddesses.
The advice came in the wake of Uttar Pradesh Religious Affair Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary describing Lord Hanuman as a Jat. Earlier, a UP BJP Member of Legislative Council, Bukkal Nawab, called Lord Hanuman a Muslim.
The remarks had come after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while campaigning for the Rajasthan Assembly Elections, had himself dubbed Lord Hanuman a Dalit.
"On one side the BJP, from time to time, has been bringing up the Ram temple issue and on the other, its leaders are making absurd remarks on Hindu gods and goddesses, hurting religious sentiments," Shankaracharya Adhokshajanand Deo Tirth said here.
"The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be incomplete without Lord Hanuman as Ram had himself praised Hanumanji calling him like his brother Bharat," he said.
The seer, taking a jibe, said the BJP top leadership approves of Nawab’s remarks calling the deity a Muslim, then "the party will have to get a mosque constructed for Lord Hanuman".
The Shankaracharya said the CM had hurt religious sentiments with his remarks. "Adityanath and other leaders' remarks on Hanuman have vitiated the atmosphere in the country," the seer added.
In the recent weeks, many political leaders have come out to describe the deity’s caste - Lord Hanuman has been termed a Jat, Thakur, a sportsman and a Muslim. The seer reminded that gods and goddesses are above caste and religion.
"The silence by BJP higher ups and RSS functionaries (on the remarks on Lord Hanuman) indicates that for the BJP, the Ram temple is a tool to garner votes," the seer said.