Bemetara, Aug 27 (IANS) Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati on Thursday accused Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi of repeatedly insulting Hindu religious texts, over his remarks concerning the Manusmriti. He warned that if the Congress leader continued making such statements without offering an apology, a campaign would be launched urging Hindus not to vote for the Congress.
Speaking to IANS, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said, “Rahul Gandhi is repeatedly insulting our religious texts. This is absolutely wrong. If he continues to do this and does not apologise, then we will run a campaign. We will urge Hindus to reject the Congress Party and never vote for it.”
He said disrespect towards religious scriptures would not be tolerated, irrespective of the political party or leader involved.
“Whether it is the BJP, Congress or anyone else in this country or anywhere in the world, no one can insult our religious texts. This will not be accepted,” he added.
The Shankaracharya further alleged that Rahul Gandhi repeatedly spoke against the Manusmriti and attributed statements to the ancient text that, according to him, were not actually mentioned in it.
“Rahul Gandhi repeatedly speaks against the Manusmriti and attributes statements to it that are not actually mentioned in the text. For example, he stated in Parliament last time that the Manusmriti contains statements promoting rape. The question is that no such sentiment is expressed anywhere in the Manusmriti,” he said.
He claimed that a letter had been sent to Gandhi asking him to identify the specific passage supporting his assertion, but no response had been received.
“We wrote to him asking him to tell us where it is written, but he did not respond. We asked him repeatedly, but he still did not tell us,” he said.
“The Smritis are also part of this tradition. These are our religious scriptures,” the Shankaracharya stated, elucidating the Vedas, Smritis, and the concept of Dharma.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati further said that they have publicly released the letter sent to Gandhi and could take further action if required.
“We did not like what Rahul Gandhi said, which is why we published a letter and sent it to him. We have also made it public. If necessary, we will take further action and launch a campaign on the matter,” he said.
He, however, clarified that his criticism should not be interpreted as personal hostility towards the Congress leader.
“We are not enemies of Rahul Gandhi or any other leader of this country. Rahul Gandhi has sometimes said good things. The way he shows determination and has been struggling for such a long time — whenever he says something good, we have supported his good deeds despite facing opposition from people,” he said.
Defending certain provisions attributed to the Manusmriti, the Shankaracharya referred to the responsibility of a father towards a newborn girl.
“The word ‘Raksha’ is there, but the word ‘Bandhan’ is not there. Now you are saying that this is against women’s freedom. Ask Rahul Gandhi this question. A girl is born — should she be made independent immediately? Manusmriti says that the father will protect her,” he said.
He argued that the father assumes responsibility for the protection of a child and questioned who would fulfil that role if such principles were rejected.
“If a person like Rahul Gandhi opposes Manusmriti, then tell me, who will protect the girl who has just been born? The father protects her. If you oppose this principle and remove it, who will protect her? Will your government protect her or will your Congress party protect her?” he asked.
–IANS
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