Bhopal: Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh has brought allegations of rape against saffron-clad men.
Addressing a convention of seers ‘Sant Samagam’ in Bhopal on Tuesday, Singh said these days, people adorning ‘bhagwa’ (saffron)-coloured attire were raping women, even inside temples.
Singh’s statements came in the backdrop of rape charges being levelled against former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Swami Chinmayanand. A post-graduate law student has accused the self-styled godman of harassment and sexual exploitation.
Even as he stated that Sanatan Dharma was the world’s oldest religion, the former Bhopal MP said some men after leaving their homes to become seers were selling ‘churan’. He said this is an apparent reference to yoga guru Ramdev, whose Patanjali has turned into a big profit-making venture.
Singh said, “This is not our religion. The Almighty won’t forgive those who defame our Sanatan Dharma instead of following a path towards spirituality.” The former chief minister further said while re-coining the ‘Jai Siya Ram’ slogan into ‘Jai Sri Ram’, today’s seers forgot to include the lord’s wife, Sita.
The convention was organised by ‘Computer Baba’, head of Nadi Vyas and a seer who had organised religious conventions in favour of Singh when the Lok Sabha election campaign was underway.
Singh, who lost from the Bhopal parliamentary seat to Malegaon blast accused Pragya Thakur, also said that there has been concerted efforts to claim or appropriate the country’s mutts and temples and turn them into centres of politics.
While stating that this would have to be fought against unitedly, the senior politician urged religious heads to ensure that they do not let anyone exploit them politically. He asked the Kamal Nath-led Congress government to carry out survey of mutts and temples in the state and hand over land documents to the authorities of these religious places.
During the previous Congress-led UPA rule at the Centre, Singh had drawn sizeable criticism for coining the phrase ‘saffron terror’ while referring to radical Hindu outfits that were allegedly involved in terror activities in the country.