Dehradun: Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was ‘excommunicated’ by Jyotirmath Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati on Saturday. According to the Seer, Rahul’s remarks on Manusmriti in Parliament ‘insulted Sanatan Dharma’. He also claimed that the Congress leader failed to reply to requests for clarification sent three months ago.
The Shankaracharya said in Badrinath that he waited three months for a reply from Gandhi after he claimed that Manusmriti “protects rapists” during a speech in Parliament. He added that a reminder was also sent to the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family but to no avail.
“During his speech, he first targeted ruling party members and then made the comment against Manusmriti. It is our dharm-grantha (religious text). Pointing a finger at the ruling party’s benches, Gandhi had said it is written in ‘your book’, which means he does not regard himself as a Hindu. A person who does not regard Manusmriti as his text cannot be a Hindu,” the Shankaracharya said.
“It is believed that Sanatan/Hindu religion has become an orphan in the country. Whoever wants, speaks whatever against it. There has to be somebody to fight against this. Then on the demand of people, one person who had come to the Kumbh, and was pained by Rahul Gandhi’s statement on the Manusmiriti in the Parliament, sent a notice to him. Rahulji did not reply. Reminders were sent, but still he did not respond. Then someone had to take a stand, hence we took action. This has nothing to do with politics,” he added.
The Shankaracharya also said: “We took a decision that he should be banned from temples and priests should not perform puja for him.”
The Shankaracharya had stood by Rahul’s statement in Parliament last year. The LOP had then accused BJP leaders of dividing people along communal lines. In response, PM Narendra Modi had claimed that Rahul had referred to the “entire Hindu community” as violent. To this, Rahul had replied: “Narendra Modiji is not the entire Hindu community, the BJP is not the entire Hindu community, the RSS is not the entire Hindu community”.
Swami Avimukteshwarananda had then said that Rahul’s speech did not contradict Hinduism. “We heard Rahul Gandhi’s entire speech. He is clearly saying that there is no place for violence in Hinduism. There is nothing wrong in that,” he had said.
On Saturday, the Shankaracharya also said that the sanctity of pilgrimage sites must be protected and only ‘Sanatan Dharma’ followers should undertake the Char Dham yatra. “People should not come for leisure. Non-believers should be barred from entering the four Dhams,” he said.
