Watch: Copies of Ramcharitmanas Being Burnt in UP in Support of SP Leader Swami Prasad Maurya

Ramcharitmanas Controversy: Top seers from Ayodhya - Mahant Raju Das of Hanuman Garhi temple and Paramhans Das of Tapasvi Chhavni - have declared a bounty for anyone who beheads Maurya for insulting the Sanatan Dharma and asked the BJP government to take strict action against such leaders.

NEW DELHI: The controversy surrounding Ramcharitmanas refuses to die down with disturbing videos of OBC leaders burning the copies of the Hindu epic penned by great sage Goswami Tulsidas in the state capital Lucknow and other parts of Uttar Pradesh coming to fore. Video shared by Twitter users showed several members of the Akhil Bharatiya OBC Mahasabha backed by the Samajwadi Party burning copies of the Hindu epic in support of Swami Prasad Maurya, who has created a political storm by making objectionable comments on Ramcharitmanas.

In the viral videos, the OBC leaders can also be seen shouting slogans and calling for a ban on the epic poem.

कल अखिलेश जी से "स्वामी प्रसाद" मिले फिर अखिलेश जी मंदिर गये, आज सपा नेता स्वामी प्रसाद के समर्थन में “पवित्र ग्रंथ” रामचरितमानस को वृंदावन योजना लखनऊ में फाड़कर जलाया गया?

हम @Uppolice से दोषियों ख़िलाफ़ ‘FIR’ दर्ज करने की माँग करते हैं।https://t.co/28pr8NjWDi pic.twitter.com/lP1Yf7bzai — Vikas Singh (@INDVikasS) January 29, 2023

Earlier, members of the outfit burnt photocopies of the epic in Vrindavan. The protest was held in the Vrindavan Yojana sector expressing solidarity with Maurya, who had on January 22 in a statement said the “Hindu epic contained passages discriminatory of women and shudras.”

The right-wing outfits demanded the registration of FIR and strict action against these protesters. It has also later emerged that the UP Police has booked more than 10 people for "promoting enmity" after they allegedly burnt photocopies of the Ramcharitmanas. An FIR has been registered on a complaint lodged by BJP leader Satnam Singh Lavi. The case has been filed against 10 named and several unidentified people at the PGI police station under sections 120 B, 142, 143, 153-A, 295, 295-A, 298, 504, 505(2), 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)."No one has been arrested till now," the police said.

Maurya, a popular OBC leader in Uttar Pradesh, had kicked up a controversy by alleging that certain verses of the Ramcharitmanas "insult" a large section of society on the basis of caste and demanded that these be "banned." Maurya, who was a cabinet minister in the BJP government, had resigned and joined the Samajwadi Party before the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Reacting to the row, BSP chief Mayawati on Monday said that it is aimed at benefitting the ruling BJP and the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. She also ridiculed the Samajwadi Party for taking no action against party leader Swami Prasad Maurya who had recently made objectionable remarks on the epic poem 'Ramcharitmanas' penned by great sage Goswami Tulsidas.

Top seers from Ayodhya - Mahant Raju Das of Hanuman Garhi temple and Paramhans Das of Tapasvi Chhavni - have declared a bounty for anyone who beheads Maurya for insulting the Sanatan Dharma and asked the BJP government to take strict action against such leaders.

Maurya, however, looks defiant and has said, "I will continue to oppose the conspiracies of insulting tribals, Dalits, backwards and women in the name of religion. The way an elephant is unperturbed by barking dogs and does not change its path, I too will not change my stance towards getting dignity for those (tribals, Dalits, backwards and women)."

अभी हाल में मेंरे दिये गये बयान पर कुछ धर्म के ठेकेदारों ने मेरी जीभ काटने एवं सिर काटने वालों को इनाम घोषित किया है, अगर यही बात कोई और कहता तो यही ठेकेदार उसे आतंकवादी कहते, किंतु अब इन संतों, महंतों, धर्माचार्यों व जाति विशेष लोगों को क्या कहा जाए आतंकवादी, महाशैतान या जल्लाद। — Swami Prasad Maurya (@SwamiPMaurya) January 27, 2023

Not only that Swami Prasad Maurya also made a controversial statement against seers and saints, calling them monsters.