SP leaders who criticised Swami Prasad Maurya’s Ramcharitmanas remarks expelled

SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said the two leaders were “expelled over indiscipline”. “We will give the exact reason later,” he said.

Sources in the party said the two were expelled after they put social media posts criticising Maurya’s statements that the Ramcharitmanas written by Tulsidas was derogatory towards women, Dalits and tribals and backward classes.

On January 22, Maurya told a news channel: “It is a lie that crores of people read it (Ramcharitmanas). It was written by Tulsidas for self-praise and his own happiness. We welcome religion. But why abuse in the name of religion? The epic abuses Dalits, tribals and backwards by naming their castes and calling them shudra.”

On February 8, Maurya had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking amendments to Ramcharitmanas.

An SP leader said, “The two had been openly criticising Maurya’s statements and were going against the party line.”

In a statement, Rajendra Choudhary asked party leaders and spokespersons to keep in mind that the “SP is party that follows Dr (Ram Manohar) Lohia’s ideals of democracy, secularism and samajwad (socialism)”.

“The SP is committed towards the saptkranti of Dr Lohia and Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan’s complete revolution and social justice. We have also been continuously demanding caste census,” it added.

The party leaders should focus on people’s basic issues and should avoid topics around religion, Choudhary said.

When contacted, Roli Tiwari Mishra said, “I had said that what Mauryaji was saying was not right and that he should not disrespect someone’s faith. I had also raised several questions about him raising this issue now. Why didn’t he make these remarks earlier. I had also opposed the burning of the holy book and had announced a yatra in support of the Ramcharitramanas. I was expelled after all this.”

Richa Singh released a statement, saying “a party which does not believe in natural justice can never be true to social justice”.

“Of late, the democratic and socialist facade of Samajwadi Party has reached a new low by expelling female leaders without giving any explanation. Natural justice demands that before taking action, an individual must be issued a show-cause notice and should be given the reason for which action is taken. No show-cause notice or explanation came from the SP before taking action against me. It is not only undemocratic but against the idea of justice,” she said.

Action was taken against her for raising voice against the desecration of Ramcharitmanas by SP leaders,” she added. “The way women are being treated in the party exposes the true colours of the SP leadership. Several male party leaders too were vocal in their defence of the Ramcharitmanas but they did not face any action. Women leaders were targeted arbitrarily,” she said.

Skip TV debates on communal topics: SP to its leaders

Lucknow: The SP has asked its leaders and panelists to refrain from debating on communal issues on TV channels. It said the party leaders should not be misled by the BJP which is trying to divert the attention of the people from basic issues. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has advised party workers, office bearers to refrain from debating on communal issues, SP spokesperson said.