New Delhi: Former minister and Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya has criticised the Ramcharitramanas written by Tulsidas, saying that the text uses "objectionable language" against Dalits, Adivasis and backward classes.

“Koi crore log isko nahi padhte. Sab bakwas hai. Yeh Tulsidas ne apni prashansa aur khushi ke liye likha hai. Dharm ho, hum uska swagat karte hain. Par dharm ke naam par gaali kyun? Dalit ko, adivasiyon ko, pichdon ko. Jaati lekar ke naam. Shudra keh kar ke, kyun gaali de rahe hain? Kya gaali dena dharm hai? (It is a lie that crores of people read it. It was written by Tulsidas for self-praise and his own happiness. We welcome religion. But why abuses in the name of religion? Abuses to Dalits, tribals, Backwards. By naming their castes, and calling them shudra. Is giving abuse religious?)” Maurya told Aaj Tak.

“I respect all religions. But if in the name of religion, a community or caste is humiliated then it is objectionable,” Maurya, an OBC leader, continued.

Maurya switched from the Bharatiya Janata Party to the SP ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2022.

The BJP claimed that Maurya was trying to "divide society". “When Swami Prasad Maurya was in the BJP, we never heard such statements from him. Since he has been in the SP, he has started disrespecting Hindus which is part of the SP’s agenda. He is opposing the Ramcharitmanas to divide society….The SP will have to face the consequences for this,” BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, according to Indian Express.

Bihar education minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal Chandra Shekhar had also made similar remarks criticising the Ramcharitramanas recently.

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