Sagar speaking in the Assembly on Friday Sagar speaking in the Assembly on Friday

He equated dharma to the husband and politics to the wife, suggesting that the latter should “accept the discipline” imposed by the former.

He recommended ways to eradicate female foeticide. He even took potshots at Pakistan. And all through the discourse that lasted 40 minutes, Jain religious leader Tarun Sagar had MLAs cutting across party lines at the Haryana Assembly listening in rapt attention.

Delivering his “Kadve Vachan” to mark the start of the monsoon session, the first such event organised at the Vidhan Sabha, the monk, who appeared in the nude, was seated on a dais, above the seats of the Governor, Chief Minister and MLAs.

Invited to speak by Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, Sagar said, “Rajniti par dharam ka ankush zaroori hai. Dharam pati hai, rajneeti patni. Har pati ki yeh duty hoti hai apni patni ko samrakshan de. Har patni ka dharam hota hai ki woh pati ke anushasan ko sweekar kare.

Agar rajneeti par dharam ka ankush na ho toh woh magan-mast haathi ki tarah… ho jaati hai (The control of dharma over politics is essential. Dharma is the husband, politics is the wife. It is the duty of every husband to protect his wife. It is the duty of every wife to accept the discipline of her husband. If there is no control of dharma over politics, it will be like an elephant out of control).”

Sagar identified female foeticide as a “big problem” that was disturbing the balance of society, leading to more crimes and rapes, and said that he had come up with a formula to tackle it at three levels — political, social and religious.

“At the political level, the government should decide that those who do not have daughters should not have the right to contest Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. At the level of society, people should not marry their daughters into families that do not have daughters. At the religious level, saints should decide that they will not accept alms from houses where there are no daughters. The result will exceed expectations if this formula is followed. We are living in the 21st century. Even today, when boys and girls are differentiated, I feel we are living in the 14th century,” he said.

At this juncture, Sagar took a dig at Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who is a bachelor, saying, “Khattar sahib ko ismense bahar kar do (Khattar should be kept out of this).”

Taking on politicians, Sagar said that the Parliament, which was set up to solve the country’s problems, has become the biggest problem. He claimed that according to a survey, 160 MPs have criminal cases registered against them and said that efforts should be made to ensure that criminal elements are “not able to climb the stairs of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha”.

Terming terrorism as a major issue, Sagar said that no religion promotes terror. If the amount of government money that is spent on weapons is used for education, employment and healthcare, there would be a transformation, he said.

Taking potshots at Pakistan he said, “Humara padosi desh, sab ko maloom hai, atankvaad ko aasan de raha hai….bhasmasur paida kar raha hai… Bharat ko pareshan karne ke liye. Mujhe lagta hai aaj nahi toh kal bhasmasur tayyar kar raha hai apne liye. Ek baar galti kare woh agyan hai, do baar galti kare woh nadaan hai, teen baar galti kare woh shaitan hai aur jo baar baar galti kare woh Pakistan hai. Jo har baar shama kar de, woh Hindustan hai (Everyone knows that the neighbouring country is harbouring terrorism… creating Bhasmasurs to trouble India. If someone makes a mistake once he is ignorant, if someone makes a mistake twice he is innocent, if someone makes a mistake thrice he is the devil, and if someone makes a mistake repeatedly, that is Pakistan. And the one who forgives repeatedly is India).”

Sagar also praised the Narendra Modi government for prescribing a retirement age for active politicians, and had a word of advice for the Khattar government.”Agar humne Rishikesh mein Ganga ka shuddhikaran kar liya, toh Haridwar aur uske neeche ke tamaam ghat apne aap shudh hote chale jayenge. Agar satra ke pehle hi din aapne dharam ko apne yahan pe baitha liya, rajneeti ke tamaam ghaat apne aap shudh hote chale jayenge. Khattar sarkar par yeh aarop lag sakta hai ke ihno ne rajneeti ka bhagwakaran kar diya, par main aap se nivedan karna chahunga, yeh rajneeti ka bhagwakaran nahi hai balki rajneeti ka shudhikaran hai (If we manage to purify Ganges in Rishikesh, then Haridwar and all its ghats will automatically keep getting purified. If on first day of this session you place Dharma in the assembly, all the ghats of politics will automatically keep getting purified on their own. There may be allegations against the Khattar government that they have saffronised politics, but I would request you that it is not saffronisation of politics, rather it is the cleansing of politics),” he said.

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