LUCKNOW: Choosing the UP Assembly to put his view on the ongoing controversy stoked by Samajwadi Party MLC Swami Prasad Maurya over a couplet from Ramcharitmanas, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Saturday presented the analytical overview of it explaining the meaning of each word of the couplet and the perspective it was written in.
While reading out the lines from the epic, CM Yogi Adityanath said, "‘Dhol’ is a musical instrument, ‘ganwar’ means uneducated, and ‘shudra’ means the labour class and not any particular caste as was being depicted by the SP leadership. "Ambedkar ji has also said that the Dalit community should not be referred to as 'shudra'. Your behaviour towards Ambedkar is well known to the world. The names of the organisations under his name were changed,” said the CM.
Elaborating further on the couplet, he defined the word ‘Nari’ as referring to women. “It was written at a time by Tulsidas ji when the condition of women in the society was not good," said Yogi. He went on to explain the word ‘taadna’ used in the said couplet by saying that Ramcharitmanas was composed in Awadhi in which ‘taadna’ means ‘to be watchful and sensitive’.
“So by misconstruing the couplet and presenting it out of context leading by burning and tearing the pages of Ramcharitmanas, are you not insulting the Hindus in India and across the world?" he asked the opposition members claiming that it was a vicious attempt to spread social unrest in the state.
CM Yogi said that when the Global Investors Summit was about to begin, the Samajwadi Party started the Ramcharitmanas row and dragged Tulsidas ji into it. “What would have happened if the same thing (burning of pages from epic) would have happened with some other religion? Does it mean whoever wants to insult Hindus, can do it? You won’t tolerate any attempt to insult the Hindu community," asserted the CM.
However, later reacting to CM Yogi’s explanation, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav backed the interpretation given by Swami Prasad Maurya saying that though he (Akhilesh Yadav) was not against Ramcaritmanas, but anything wrong should be said wrong. “It is not a fight of today, it has been continuing for 5,000
years,” said the SP chief.