Hindu seers once again spewed venom against a particular religion at a religious meet in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh town, calling for making India a 'Hindu Rashtra' and exhorting the Hindus to have more number of children and vote in the name of Hinduism, lest the country should turn into an 'Islamic' nation and have a Muslim prime minister.
"There is only one religion in India and that is Sanatan Dharma....Hindus must unite and cast their votes on the basis of their religion," controversial Hindu seer Kalicharan Maharaj said while speaking at the meeting on Sunday.
Kalicharan had earlier been arrested after he had abused Mahatma Gandhi and said that he (Gandhi) was not 'Father of the Nation'. He spent three months in jail and was later released on bail.
He claimed that lakhs of Hindu temples had been demolished during the Muslim rule in the country and thousands of women had been raped. "Our women will not be safe if we do not unite and support the cause of Hinduism," he added and exhorted the people to support prime minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
Another controversial seer Yati Narsimhanand Sarswati, who had hit the headlines after videos of his speech containing highly objectionable remarks on Muslims at a 'Dharm Sansad' (religious gathering) at Haridwar in Uttarakhand went viral last year, also called for making India ' Hindu Rashtra'.
"The population of a particular community has been increasing rapidly in the country as part of a well planned conspiracy...it is a very dangerous situation for the country and the Hindus must do everything to counter it," Narsmihanand Sarswati said.
He also cast doubts on the patriotism of Muslims, saying that in the event of a war with Pakistan, they would 'support' the neighbouring country.
Barely a few months back, at a religious gathering in the 'Magh Mela', an annual religious event at 'Sangam' (the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Sarswati rivers) at Prayagraj, the Hindu seers had called for making India a 'Hindu Rashtra' and had refused to recognise Mahatma Gandhi as the 'Father of the Nation' and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru the first prime minister of the country.
"In a country like India, some one can be Rashtra Putra (so of the nation) but not Rashtra Pita (father of the nation)," a seer had said in his speech. He had also said that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose should be declared the first prime minister of the country as he (Bose) had the "support of 15 countries". "Bose was already the PM of India when the country had attained freedom," he had aimed.
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