After Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar’s objectionable remarks on Ramcharitmanas, Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya on Sunday has sparked a controversy by giving a statement against the Hindu holy book.

SP leader reportedly contended that Dalits and women have been insulted in Ramcharitmanas.

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Denying that crores of people read the book, Maurya described the book as “rubbish” saying, “Tulsidas wrote the book for his own pleasure. He demanded that the government should ban it.

Later, giving a clarification on his remark, the SP leader said, “I don’t have any issue with Ramcharitramanas, but a few parts of Ramcharitramanas have insulting comments and sarcasm specifying particular castes and sects, those should be banned.”

In a conversation with a private news channel, the Maurya cited a quote from Ramcharitramanas reading: “A Brahmin may be vicious, or illiterate, but he is worthy of worship. But no matter how learned a Shudra is, he is not respected in the society.” He then went on to assert, “We don’t need such type of religion.”

Attacking Peethadhishwar Dhirendra Shastri of Bageshwar Dham, he said, only the custodians of religion are selling religion. Dhirendra Shastri is spreading hypocrisy. Action should be taken against such people.

Earlier on January 11, Bihar’s Education Minister Chandra Shekhar had described Ramcharitmanas as a Hindu religious book that spreads hatred.

Meanwhile the BJP and the VHP have demanded an apology from SP and Maurya for his comments on the holy book.

BJP State President Bhupendra Chaudhary said the statement of Swami Prasad Maurya shows his deranged mentality. Asking the Samajwadi Party to decide whether it is the stand of the party, he said it should give an unconditional apology. He said that Samajwadi Party and its leaders have an old history of obstructing Hindu religion.

“During the SP regime they (the SP) had banned Kanvar Yatra and terrorists attacked temples and mutts. They also conspired to free these dreaded terrorists,” he alleged

VHP media in-charge Sharad Sharma said in a release that ignorant people like former minister SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya was talking nonsense about the Hindu scripture as he is having fits of insanity because of not getting power.

Ridiculing the claim made by Maurya that Ramcharitmanas is not a book, he said it is the amrit kumbh (a pot of panacea) to make human life better. “The mentally deranged anti-Shri Ram person should be arrested immediately,” he demanded.