Verghese Kurien (File Photo)

VADODARA: Senior BJP leader and former agriculture minister Dilip Sanghani stoked yet another controversy by making wild allegations against ‘Father of India’s White Revolution’ late Dr Verghese Kurien, whom he accused of diverting Amul ’s profit to fund religious conversions in the country.

Sanghani, who is presently the chairman of Gujarat State Cooperative Marketing Federation Limited (GUJCOMASOL), was speaking at a function in Amreli’s Amar Dairy. Ironically, the function was organized to felicitate bikers, who have embarked on a 3,000km rally from various places being organized to commemorate the 97th birth anniversary of India’s Milkman that falls on Monday.

“Amul’s real founder was Tribhuvandas Patel and H M Dalaya was responsible for its development. But their names are not known to the country. Profits of milk producers were being used to donate to Christian missionaries by Kurien. It was because of that they he got support from across the country and this was reason he was removed (from GCMMF’s top post),” he alleged.

Sanghani’s accusations left Gujarat’s dairy sector as well as family of Dr Kurien shocked. His close associates termed Sanghani’s remarks as laughable given the fact that Kurien himself was an atheist though he was born as a Syrian Christian.

“Actually, it is so ridiculous. It is not worth of attention. My father was an atheist,” Dr Kurien’s daughter Nirmala told TOI. “We cannot stop anybody saying anything. My father was surrounded with controversies, but his integrity was never in question,” she said.

In fact, in September 2012, when Dr Kurien died at the age of 90, he was cremated at a Hindu crematorium in Anand, his ‘karmabhoomi’ as per his wish. Not just Kurien, even his wife Molly, who died in December in the same year, was also cremated at ‘Chandanwadi’ – an electric crematorium at Marine Lines in Mumbai.

The country will celebrate National Milk Day to mark the birth anniversary of India’s milkman on Monday Dr Amrita Patel, former chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) also dubbed Sanghani’s comment as ridiculous and an example of a new low in politics. “It is absolutely ridiculous and it is highly objectionable for anybody to make such a statement. He has given his life to Gujarat. I feel really saddened that any responsible person and that too in Gujarat will make such a statement on Dr Kurien. A person who has given his life to the cause of farmers of Gujarat. This reflects how low politics has gone these days. I think BJP itself should react to it,” Patel told TOI.

Kurien had served as founder chairman of NDDB and launched ‘Operation Flood’ that turned India into world’s largest milk producer from a milk-deficient country.

Condemning the barbs, Dr Y K Alagh, chancellor of Central University of Gujarat, said, “Kurien belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church which is one of the oldest religions of India starting in the year 58 AD. They are not particularly known for doing conversions and are a very small community. Also, Kurien himself was not a religious man.

Alagh, an eminent economist, had taken over as chairman Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) replacing Kurien, the institute’s founder chairman.

When contacted, state BJP president Jitu Vaghani said Sanghani would not have made such allegations without any evidence. “I am not aware of his statement but he is a very senior leader and speaks only after proper research. He would be having evidence to support his claims,” Vaghani said.

