New Delhi: On February 5, a ‘Sanatan Dharm Sansad’ (‘Hindu Parliament’) was organised by the supporters of Dhirendra Shastri. According to chief speaker Bhakt Hari Maharaj, those attending the event have three main demands – declaring the Ramcharitramanas to be the national book of the “Hindu rashtra” India, the cow as the national animal, and Z-plus security to Shastri. But later, the event escalated into calls for violence against the minority community.
One of the posters at the event said, “All the saints and crazy people of Shree Baghesgwar Dham are welcome.” The first poster publicising the event was posted on Twitter by Bageshwar Dham’s Twitter account on February 4. The name of the chief speaker mentioned on the poster was Bhakt Hari Maharaj, who also called for violence at the event.
Shastri is the head of the Bhageshwar Dham temple situated in Chhatarpur, Madhya Pradesh. He has been recently embroiled in controversy because of his claim that he performs “miracles”. His “miracle” was challenged by a rationalist, Shyam Manav of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, at an event in Nagpur. Shastri left midway through the event.
In response, Shastri gave interviews to mainstream media channels where he got a chance to brand himself as a “godman”. At one of these events, he called an ABP journalist on stage and told him his father’s name and other personal details, to show his “miraculous” powers. This whole stunt was aired on ABP news.
The demands of Shastri’s followers at the Dharm Sansad at Jantar Mantar resonate with the demands he himself has been making. At his religious gatherings, he asks for support from his followers to make India a Hindu rashtra and Ramcharitramanas the national book of India. Allegations have been made against him of practicing untouchability and disturbing communal harmony too.
The speech by Bhakt Hari, the chief speaker, started by showing outrage against criticism of the Ramcharitramanas by Swami Prasad Maurya, UP MLA, and Chandra Shekhar, the education minister of Bihar. They had said that the book spread hate and is discriminatory toward Dalits and lower castes. After demanding legal action to “teach them a lesson”, Bhakt Hari’s outrage suddenly shifted towards the minorities.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here