Angry over his followers being stopped from reaching Shirdi, Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati of Jyotish and Dwarika peeths has lashed out at the Maharashtra police, saying that prohibitory orders under Section144 had been promulgated to prevent them from reaching the place.
‘This is being done in flagrant violation of the Constitution and the fundamental rights enshrined in it, giving right to everyone to propagate his or her religion,” he said. He said what happened there is serious and the country should take a note of it.
Speaking to the mediapersons at his ashram in Kankhal, the seer said, “I want to make it very clear that Shirdi is not a place belonging to a particular person or a sect. Many from diverse religious faiths and those following the Sanatan Dharma have also been there. They keep visiting the holy place for years. It is thus outrageous that anybody can be stopped from reaching the place by an administrative fiat.”
Swaroopanand said that one Ramanand Maharshi had approached him some days ago for 'Shastrarth' (religious debate) at Shirdi where Christians, Muslims and Hindus were invited.
“Unable to go, I sent one of my disciples Govindanand, but the group of people were stopped by the police. They have been kept under house arrest. They are not being allowed to move out,” alleged Swaroopanand. Venting his anger, he further said that they were not out to indulge in any kind of violence. “They are there to participate in a discourse representing Sanatan Dharma,” the seer said.
Reiterating his stance, he said Sai Baba should not be deified to the stature of god. “This is the unanimous decision of all the saints from 13 akharas. It came about at a dharam sansad. But I have been singled out for it. It is a fact that the representatives of Viaishnavacharya or Sanyasi tradition present at the congregation put their signature in the paper, saying that Sai Baba should not be worshipped as god.”
He further said that he was being made a target of the hostile propaganda when he had just expressed himself along with others in consonance with the fundamental right of freedom of expression.
Notably, during his last sojourn to the city in April this year, Swaroopanand had said that attributing miraculous powers to Sai Baba on the silver screen had extolled him to godhead.
He had condemned the practice of every temple in Maharashtra to have the idol of Sai Baba installed at the important place with the Hindu gods like Ganesha and Rama being put almost in the background, adding that this incongruity had spawed drought in the region.