Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya, spearheading a campaign against Sanatan Dharma for the last one year, in yet another controversial statement has defended the police firing on kar sevaks in Ayodhya in October 1990.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, as part of its movement to liberate the Ram Janmabhoomi, had given a call for kar sewa at Ayodhya. The police had fired on the kar sevaks twice on October 1 and November 2 1990, leading to death of many of them.
“The kar sevaks vandalised Ayodhya; they were anarchists and the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government had to order firing on them to protect Babri masjid and maintain law and order,” Swami Prasad Maurya said on Wednesday.
His statement has come less than two weeks ahead of the consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya on January 22.
Swami Prasad Maurya said that the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government had opened fire to maintain peace and to protect the Constitution and law as this was the government’s duty and it did its duty.
Swami Prasad Maurya had hit the headlines in January last year when he had launched a campaign against a couple of verses of Ramcharitmanas He had recently said the Sanatan Dharm was a hoax and also claimed that Hindu temples were built by demolishing Buddhist monasteries.
Meanwhile, SP MLA Rakesh Singh on Wednesday condemned the statement of Maurya saying “he has no authority to make derogatory comments about any religion”.
The SP MLA added if Swami Prasad Maurya was so concerned about Sanatan Dharma then he should first clarify his stand on his daughter who is Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Budaun.
Rakesh Singh along with other MLAs and party leaders later met party chief Akhilesh Yadav and registered their protest against the diatribe by Swami Prasad Maurya against Sanatan Dharma. The MLA demanded that Swami Prasad Maurya be restrained from making derogatory statements against Sanatan Dharma.
Akhilesh Yadav told his party MLAs that the party does not support the stance of Swami Prasad Maurya. He said religion-based politics was not the agenda of the SP and the party’s struggle was against social and economic inequality in society.
Akhilesh Yadav also hinted that several MLAs will be fielded in the coming Lok Sabha elections.