LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya is again in the news, this time for dismissing Hinduism as a hoax and describing it as another name for Brahminism. His remarks have triggered strong reactions within the party and outside. Earlier Maurya had made headlines for demanding scrapping of certain verses from Ramcharitmanas on grounds that they were disrespectful towards women, Dalits and tribals.Maurya, who is SP national general secretary, was addressing a function where he blamed Brahminwad (domination of Brahmins) as the root cause of all the disparity among castes. He tweeted a video of his address and wrote: "Hindu naam ka koi dharm hai hi nahi, Hindu dharm kewal dhokha hai (There is no religion by the name of Hinduism, it is a hoax)." He added that Brahmin as a religion has been renamed as Hindu religion as a conspiracy to trap Dalits, tribals and backward classes. "Had Hinduism been a religion, then Dalits, tribals and backward classes would have been respected, but the irony is ..." he tweeted in Hindi.His statement was a part of his address at the birth centenary of Mahamna Swaroop Verma, the founder of Arjak Sangh, in Lucknow on August 27. While the SPs top leadership was yet to react to Mauryas remarks, some senior party leaders objected to it.Taking exception to Mauryas statement, SP MLA and chief whip of the party, Manoj Pandey, said such statements are an attempt by individuals to save their political identity. "Such attacks have been happening for centuries. We (Brahmins) have survived them and have come a long way," he said, adding: "On this earth, there was a war between the "Daitya" and "Danavs" on one side and "Devtas" on the other. There is no instance in mythology or history which says that the devils won," he said.Senior SP leader and spokesperson IP Singh took to X to advise Maurya to refrain from speaking on religious issues. "You have embraced Buddhism but that does not mean that you should criticize Hinduism. You never raised such issues when you were in BJP for 5 years. Samajwadi Party does not approve of such statements made by you and they can be your personal opinion," Singh posted in Hindi and asked Maurya to talk on issues like caste census that BJP is not willing to get done or BJP government depriving people of reservation in government jobs.Mauryas remarks on Ramcharitmanas had also triggered protests and sharp reactions from across the country. His supporters had burnt copies of Ramcharitmanas in Lucknow following which an FIR was lodged and the accused were arrested. At that time the SP had distanced itself and described the remarks as Mauryas personal opinion.

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