Akhilesh shown black flags, says ‘backwards, Dalits shudras for BJP’
Lucknow: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was shown black flags and greeted with slogans demanding an apology by a group of people who blocked his way while he was going to attend a mahayagna of Maa Pitambara Peeth in Lucknow on Saturday. Describing the incident as an ‘attack by goons’ of the BJP and its offshoots, Akhilesh said he was stopped from attending the mahayagna because for the BJP, backwards and Dalits were shudras.
Though no organization had taken the responsibility for the protest still late Saturday evening, the protest appeared to be a part of demonstrations being held by Hindu organisations against SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya’s statement seeking removal of some objectionable verses from Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas which he described as disrespectful for backwards, Dalits, tribals and women.
Akhilesh said it was not only about the ruckus created to stop him from attending the mahayagna, but those who invited him to the event were being threatened by the BJP and the RSS. “They are receiving threats regularly. Now is the BJP going to decide who will attend a religious event and who will not? Who has given them the authority?” he said, talking to the media after the incident.
He said the BJP should remember that times change. “They should not forget that things will change. Then they (BJP leaders) can also find themselves in similar situations,” he said.
As the protesters shouted slogans and took to the road through which Akhilesh’s fleet was to pass, police tried to stop them from marching ahead. The SP chief described the police response as a hand-in-glove reaction and said the incident as a clear security breach. “Now I know why the BJP had withdrawn the NSG cover that was given to me. Even the PAC deployed at the site was removed before the protest,” he said, adding that all these factors were indicative of the BJP’s complicity in the entire incident. Akhilesh’s Z-plus cover by central paramilitary forces was scaled down in June 2019 along with that of 24 others including former CMs across the country. Their NSG cover was withdrawn but they have been provided with state security ever since.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights