Controversial murals removed: Sanatan Dharma restricts Swaminarayan sect members from occupying posts in its organisations

While the statue was inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in April,  the controversy was triggered around a week ago after some devotees objected to the depiction, saying the murals demean Lord Hanuman.

Sanatan Dharma leaders, who met in Surendranagar on Tuesday hours after the removal of the murals, passed several resolutions, including opposing members of the Swaminarayan sect from occupying positions in their organisations, claiming supremacy of their founder Sahajanand Swami, and using their ’tilak’ on Sanatan deities.

Among the 14 resolutions that were passed at Limbdi in Surendranagar, the sadhus of Sanatan Dharma announced the constitution of two committees — Satya Sanshodhan Samiti (Fact Finding Committee) and Sanatan Dharma Sanrakshan Samiti (Sanatan Dharma Protection Committee).

Earlier in the day, the head priest of the Salangpur temple said the removal of the murals followed a meeting held under the aegis of the Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha (HDAS).

“The murals have been removed. It is in accordance with what was decided at Monday’s meeting,” Vivek Sagar Swami, the head priest of the Shree Kashtabhanjandev Hanumanji Mandir, told The Indian Express. At the HDAS meeting held on Monday evening, Vivek Sagar Swami said, the Vadtal Swaminarayan faction’s head Rakeshprasad Swami underlined that “various factions of Swaminarayan sect” are part of “Vedic Sanatan Dharma” and “being a part of the Hindu community at large…(the sect) does not want to hurt feelings of the community”

Swami Parmatmanand Saraswati, head of Arsha Vidya Mandir in Munjka in Rajkot, is the convenor and general secretary of HDAS.

Chaitanya Shambhu Maharaj, one of the representatives of Sanatan Dharma who attended Tuesday’s meeting, told The Indian Express, “Another meeting within 10 days will be held in Junagadh where two committees are to be constituted. Due to the ongoing Shravan month, the next meeting is scheduled after 10 days as most of the saints are not in a position to attend it”.

While the Sanatan Dharma Sanrakshan Samiti (Sanatan Dharma Protection Committee) would also be responsible for making appointments in religious bodies across Gujarat, the Satya Sanshodhan Samiti will scrutinise all scriptures of Swaminarayan sect to check if Hindu gods and goddesses have been shown in a bad light, it was revealed following the meeting.

The Sanatan Dharma leaders also underlined that Sahajanand Swami’s name should not be prefixed with ‘sarvopari’ (The Supreme).

“If the saints of the Swaminarayan sect are holding positions in any organisation under the name of Sanatan Dharma, they should resign from that position or dismissed them from that position,” states one of the resolutions passed at the meeting of seers on Tuesday.

An attempt is being made by the Swaminarayan sect to disturb the peace of Sanatan Hindu Dharma in Gujarat, in which the Swaminarayan sect has committed the crime of hurting the religious sentiments of 125 crore devotees of Sanatan Dharma by insulting Lord Hanuman and the gods and goddesses of Sanatan Dharma, highlights another resolution.

“Devotees of the Swaminarayan sect who consider Sahajanand Swami as their Ishtadev (preferred deity) should not install the gods and goddesses of Sanatan Dharma at any place in the Swaminarayan temple, in the scriptures of the Swaminarayan sect, where the gods and goddesses of Sanatan Dharma have been portrayed in poor light…all such parts should be permanently removed… Remove from all the temples of the Swaminarayan sect any pictures or idols where the gods and goddesses of Sanatan Dharma appear below and make a mean attempt to achieve supremacy of Sahajanand Swami,” the resolutions stated.

“For a permanent solution to the issues like in their (Swaminarayan sect) granth, there is an objectionable depiction of Sanatan Dharma gods and goddesses which needs to be removed immediately, the two committees have been announced,” Ahmedabad’s Jagannath Temple priest Dilipdas Maharaj who attended Tuesday’s meeting told The Indian Express.

The sadhus of Sanatan Dharma also announced the appointment of Dr Vasantbhai Patel, a practicing advocate at the Gujarat High Court, for the legal cases on their behalf “for the upliftment of the Sanatan Dharma” in case gods and goddesses are insulted.

“Dr Vasantbhai Patel, a Sanatani who was present in the meeting today, has been appointed as the legal advisor who will represent the legal battle if required,” Mahamandleshwar Bharti Bapu, one of the religious leaders who attended Tuesday’s meeting, told this paper.

About a week ago, after the visuals of the murals were widely shared on social media, Hindu religious leaders began demanding their removal.

The calls for the removal took an ugly turn on Saturday when a man, identified as Harshad Gadhvi, allegedly managed to find a way through the temple security. He reached the pedestal and allegedly vandalised some of the murals after blackening them.

Police later arrested Gadhvi, a native of Ambardi village in Amreli district, and two others, identified as Jesing alias Jago Bharwad and Baldev Bharwad, both residents of Charanki village in Ranpur taluka of Botad district over the vandalisation.

However, the three accused were granted bail by a local court in Barwala on Monday, after their advocate underlined that offence registered against them was bailable, and that they did not intend to hurt the religious sentiments of anyone or promote enmity on the grounds of religion.