Lord Hanuman was a Muslim, claims BJP MLC

“Lord Hanuman was a Muslim.” This curious claim was made by BJP’s Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in Uttar Pradesh Bukkal Nawab on Thursday, giving a new dimension to the recent debate over the identity of the Lord.

Nawab, while speaking to ANI here, said he held this belief because Muslim names are "almost similar" to those of Lord Hanuman.

"I believe that Lord Hanuman was a Muslim. That is why the names of the people in Islam are almost similar to Lord Hanuman, whether it is Rehman, Ramzan, Farman, Zeeshan and Qurban. Such types of names are found in Islam only," he argued.

Nawab, a Muslim himself, further claimed that these names were derived from Lord Hanuman.

“Had he (Hanuman) not been there, these names would not have existed,” the elected representative of BJP said.

His comment adds a new dimension to the recent debate over the identity of Hanuman.

Earlier, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing an election rally in Alwar in Rajasthan, had said that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit.

"Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to connect all Indian communities together, from north to south and east to west," he had said.

Various political parties had condemned Adityanath's remarks, with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav asking the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister to disclose the caste of other deities as well.

Nawab was earlier an MLC of the Samajwadi Party and joined the BJP last year.