Swami Prasad Maurya claims 'BJP's hand' after FIR for burning pages of Ramcharitmanas

After being named in an FIR filed in relation to the incident where the pages of Ramcharitmanas were burnt in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maurya stood his ground that certain verses of the Hindu religious book 'insulted a major part of society'.

Speaking exclusively to Republic Bharat, Maurya, a prominent OBC leader, said, "Bharatiya Janata Party put undue pressure on the police to lodge a false FIR, for  I have absolutely no connection with the incidents that have been reported. I, through the medium of media, got to know that in Lucknow a few people were demanding the removal of the verses, but I saw that in the FIR even I have been named."

The FIR was registered on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Satnam Singh Lavi against 10 named and several unidentified people at the PGI police station. Five have been arrested so far. 

Maurya, speaking to Republic, said, "I want to make it very clear that I have never raised a finger at or objected to Ramcharitmanas. A few verses in the book are the basis for the insult of the women, the OBC, the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe, and I am seeking their amendment."

Swami Prasad Maurya & Ramcharitmanas row

On January 22, Maurya kicked up a controversy in Uttar Pradesh politics, when he referred to a few verses in Ramcharitmanas and called them derogatory towards women and backward people, demanding a ban or amendment to it. The controversy quickly snowballed, with several priest bodies and Hindu organisations coming out to condemn it. 

The SP has since distanced itself from Maurya's statement terming it his personal opinion. Several SP MLAs, including the party's chief whip in the assembly, MLA Manoj Pandey, also called Maurya's statement "wrong" and said the party will confer with its president on how to come out of the controversy. Shivpal Yadav, Akhilesh's uncle, has also termed it a personal opinion of Maurya.

In the backdrop of this, Akhilesh Yadav met Maurya. Addressing the media on the same, Akhilesh Yadav said that he has "asked Maurya to take ahead his campaign for a caste-based survey."