BJP must clear stand over remarks made on Lord Hanuman by its leaders: Seer

Shankaracharya Adhokshajanand Deo Tuesday demanded that the BJP clear its stand over remarks by the party's leaders on Lord Hanuman.

The seer's reaction came after Uttar Pradesh Religious Affair Minister Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary dubbed Lord Hanuman as a Jat, saying like Jats, the deity never tolerated injustice towards anybody, anywhere.

The minister made the remark Friday after a BJP MLC from the state, Bukkal Nawab, dubbed Lord Hanuman a Muslim on the ground that his name rhymed with Islamic names like Rahman, Arman, Qurban etc.

During an election rally in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had termed the deity a Dalit.

"On one side the BJP, from time to time, has been bringing up the Ram temple issue and on the other, its leaders are making absurd remarks on Hindu gods and goddesses, hurting religious sentiments," Shankaracharya Adhokshajanand Deo Tirth said here.

"The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be incomplete without Lord Hanuman as Ram had himself praised Hanumanji terming Hanuman equal to his brother Bharat," he said.

If the remark made by Nawab has the BJP high-command's approval, "then the party will have to get a mosque constructed for Lord Hanuman", the seer said.

The chief minister had hurt religious sentiments by terming Lord Hanuman a Dalit, even as his office later issued a clarification, claiming that Adityanath was misquoted, the shankaracharya said.

Lord Hanuman has been termed a Jat, Thakur, a sportsman and even a Muslim, even though gods and goddesses are above caste and religion, he stated.

Uttar Pradesh Sports Minister and former cricketer Chetan Chauhan had said on Sunday that Hanuman was a sportsperson.

However, he had dismissed his party colleagues' attempts at identifying the deity's caste and said gods don't have castes.

The seer asked the BJP to clear its stand on the remarks and claimed no clarification was issued by the party on the statements on Lord Hanuman.

"The silence by BJP higher ups and RSS functionaries (on the remarks on Lord Hanuman) indicates that for the BJP, the Ram temple is a tool to garner votes," he said, adding that the temple in Ayodhya will be constructed by seers and dharmacharyas.

In a meeting held in Vrindavan, the coordinator of the Mathura Nagar Nigam Tara Chandra Goshwami also condemned the remarks of BJP leaders on Hindu gods and goddesses.