Ramcharitmanas row, caste census to echo in U.P. budget session - Hindustan Times
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Ramcharitmanas row, caste census to echo in U.P. budget session

By, Lucknow
Jan 31, 2023 11:35 PM IST

The Samajwadi Party has made up its mind to take these issues to the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh legislature’s budget session likely to be convened after mid-February

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has made up its mind to take Ramcharitmanas and caste census issues to the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh legislature’s budget session likely to be convened after mid-February. Before that, a ‘Shudra’ hoarding has come up outside the SP state headquarters here and is getting attention.

A view of the facade of U.P. Vidhan Bhavan. (For Representation)
A view of the facade of U.P. Vidhan Bhavan. (For Representation)

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav—also the leader of Opposition in the state assembly—on Monday night said about taking these issues to the U.P. legislature. Akhilesh said he will ask the CM on the floor of the House to “translate the verses (in question) of Goswami Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas and also identify as to who are Shudras”.

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The same evening, in a statement issued by the SP, Akhilesh said: “The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) is anti-backwards and anti-dalit. The BJP has been shying away from getting the caste census done. This government is scared of the caste census and it does not want to respect and give rights due to dalits, backward, and oppressed classes. We will raise the issue of caste census in the House.”

Senior SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya triggered a row on January 22 when he alleged that certain verses in the Ramcharitmanas insulted a large section of the society on the basis of caste. He had also demanded either those verses should be deleted or the epic be banned by the government. He had claimed that the said verses say women and ‘Shudra’ deserve ‘Tadna’ (roughly meaning disciplining or punishment).

Since then, Maurya has been making one of the other comments daily. An FIR too had been lodged in Lucknow against him over his statement. Despite some BJP leaders’ demand that he should seek an apology, Maurya said he won’t while he also said that “no one is against Ramcharitmanas. No one is against Lord Ram...the objection is to certain verses”.

On Saturday, Akhilesh, who had been silent on Maurya’s repeated remarks, not only broke his silence but now seems openly supporting the issue and joining it. On Monday, Akhilesh said in Firozabad: “Since our CM is a yogi and comes from a religious seat (Gorakhnath Math, Gorakhpur) which has its history and contribution, I would like to ask him to recite a Chaupai (a verse) from Ramcharitmanas and translate it.”

“In the House, I will directly ask the CM about Ramcharitmanas … to tell us who are Shudras,” the SP chief said. On Saturday, Akhilesh said in Lucknow: “BJP people consider dalits as Shudra...They consider us backwards and dalits as Shudras”.

“We follow both (Lord) Ram and (Lord) Krishna. This is not a matter of Swami Prasad Maurya’s remark but of the lines,” he said. On registration of the FIR against Maurya, Yadav said, “BJP government can register an FIR against anyone. Its work is to take credit for others’ work and change names. It has no work of its own to take credit for.” “The government wants to keep the controversy over Ramcharitmanas alive to divert the attention of people from inflation and unemployment,” Akhilesh alleged.

Row spilling onto streets

Amid the raging row, a ‘Shudra’ hoarding came up near the Samajwadi Party office on Tuesday morning. Some OBC-SC organisations are coming in support of SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s statements on the issue. The red hoarding ‘Garv se kaho hum shudra hain (say with pride that we are Shudra)’ has been put up outside the SP office in Lucknow.

The hoarding--by the name and title printed on it--indicates that it was put up by national general secretary of All India Kurmi Kshatriya Mahasabha (Mumbai) Dr Shudra Uttam Prakash Singh Patel. The hoarding says “6743 castes...Shudra Samaj… Say with pride that we are Shudras… Jai Shudra Samaj… Jai Samvidhaan (Constitution).”

Although, the hoarding does not name the Samajwadi Party or any of its leaders, the location of the hoarding is making people presume that it is certainly in support of Maurya and Akhilesh. While the SP spokesperson was not available for comments, another party leader said: “It is not SP hoarding”.

On Monday, some Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) volunteers took out a mock funeral procession of SP’s Raniganj (Pratapgarh) MLA RK Verma who posted a page of Ramcharitmanas highlighting a verse and wrote: “Tulsidas was a poet who was afflicted with the mentality of discrimination, untouchability, inequality...and there are several verses in his Ramcharitmanas that are anti-Constitution and they are insulting to backward, scheduled castes, women and sant samaj. Those verses should be removed”. The BJYM volunteers burnt his effigy after the mock funeral procession they took out in Pratapgarh.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Pankaj Jaiswal is Chief of Bureau, Uttar Pradesh and covers politics. His continued interest in rural, distress, and development journalism, fetched him a handful of prestigious awards and fellowships. Pankaj is a photo-journalist too and tweets at @augustus29lotus

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