KOPPAL: “Thank you for giving me publicity for two days, or nobody would have known who Basavaraj Rayareddi is. I got publicity even in Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Chief Minister himself said this,” Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said on Wednesday.
He told reporters in Kallur village that he had been projected at the national and international level for two days. “Bihar MP Danish Ali called me, CM DK Shivakumar asked me about it. Al Jazeera too has shown it. So, thank you,” he said.
Explaining his remarks about not visiting temples, Rayareddi said, “I say I don’t go to temples because I don’t go there to ask for anything, or for my personal interests. I don’t visit temples asking to be made a minister, I don’t fall at the feet of seers. Today, I went to a temple to pray for rain. God resides in the mind. For me, SCs, STs and people from all communities are equal,” he said. “I have visited Mansarovar, where I went to study. I have visited Kamakhya Shakti Peetha, and also Vaishno Devi.”
Rayareddi said he had studied various religions and philosophies. “I have studied Judaism. I have taken a dip in Mansarovar. I have studied Jainism and visited Sarnath. I have sat beneath the tree where Buddha performed penance. I have read the Upanishads and studied the Vedas. I have visited the tomb of Jesus Christ.
At a Muslim community gathering, I said that all religions are great. Can I go to a meeting of Muslims and abuse them?” he asked. “I merely stated what is written in the Quran. I cannot go for Hajj or Umrah because I am not a Muslim, I have said I will not convert, I follow the philosophy of Sharanas. The essence of all religions is the same,” he said.