Swami Prasad Maurya, controversial Samajwadi Party leader and MLA has once again attacked Hindus and mocked the Pran Pratishtha (consecration ceremony) of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya which took place on 22nd January this year in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thousands of others dignitaries.
Consistent with his earlier anti-Hindu stance, he disparaged the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishva Hindu Parishad, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, asserting that the ceremony was “unnecessary”, in his address in the Uttar Pradesh assembly. He even went so far as to call Lord Ram “lifeless” during his vitriolic outburst against the occasion. Notably, legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party repeatedly raised their voices in protest during his tirade.
The politician further claimed, “They have taken a lot of credit for Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla. It appears as if there was no Lord Ram before the Bharatiya Janta Party government. On one hand, it is stated that millions of people worship Lord Ram and the Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to hurt the sentiments of all those people by pretending as if they are the ones who brought Lord Ram. However, everyone knows that Lord Ram has been worshipped here for thousands of years and if that is the case then how does the question of Pran Pratishtha arise?”
He added, “Pran Pratishtha was the Bharatiya Janata Party’s program. Lakhs of devotees of Lord Ram were barred from there. Its organisation was done by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the chief guest was from the Bharatiya Janata Party and preparations were made by Vishva Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. These three monopolised the entire event. It was not a cultural or government function but that of the BJP, VHP and RSS.”
He alleged that the followers of Lord Ram were halted. “What was the objective of arranging such a grand ceremony by spending crores of rupees for Lord Ram who is already being worshipped for millennia? The administration doesn’t have money to give jobs or salaries to people. Lord Ram has been worshipped in Ayodhya from ancient times and hence there was no use in conducting the Pran Pratihstha event.”
Maurya opined, “When the Supreme Court pronounced the order in favour of Ram Mandir all of us from different political parties and the entire country supported the decision. However, where did Pran Pratishtha come from? You should have just placed the idol in the temple. How come the Pran Pratihstha of the one who was already worshipped? Had he become lifeless? Are you trying to prove that he lost his life source and is without any spirit?”
It is notable here that ‘Pran Pratishtha’ is a Hindu ritual that consecrates an idol in the sanctum sanctorum of a temple.
The speaker of the Legislative Assembly then directed him not to make such controversial comments and concentrate on his speech. However, he refused to back down and challenged her to point out the objectionable statement.
“The BJP had organized the event just to distract the voters from the real problems. The party members are fake. This all is fake. Pran Pratishtha should be now done to the family members who have died. If a stone becomes alive by Pran Pratishtha then why can’t a dead person walk,” Swami Prasad Maurya who regularly makes headlines for his absurd and anti-Hindu remarks stated a day after Ram Mandir was inaugurated.
“They don’t want people to discuss unemployment, inflation, and other social problems so they are distracting the voters by making Ram Mandir. Lord Ram has been worshipped for thousands of years. What was the need to organize the Pran Pratishtha event? The people in the government want to hide their sins so they are organizing such religious events. They want themselves to be called Gods. Even the President was invited but did not attend the event. The event was attended by only BJP, VHP and RSS people. It was a planned political event,” He added while pointing out that the four Shankaracharyas weren’t present there either.
On 10th January he even justified the then Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Uttar Pradesh government’s ‘shoot at sight’ order which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of unarmed and innocent Karsevaks in the year 1990 after Bharatiya Janat Party veteran Bharat Ratna Lal Krishna Advani’s iconic rath yatra. On 2nd November 1990, the state police opened fire on karsevaks at the peak of the Ram Mandir movement.
He alleged, “At the time the incident occurred at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Unruly elements committed large-scale vandalism without judicial or administrative intervention.” He further claimed that the shocking decision was made “to safeguard the constitution and the law and to protect the peace, the then administration gave shoot-at-sight orders. The government merely did its duty.”