UP CM Yogi Adityanath addresses a gathering | Photo Credit: BCCL

New Delhi: After calling Hanuman a Dalit, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath again raked up a controversy by calling Ramayana author Valmiki a Dalit. While speaking in Ayodhya, CM Yogi on Saturday invited sharp criticism from Sant Samaj after dubbing Maharishi Valmiki a Dalit.

“Maharishi Valmiki was the one who introduced us to Lord Ram and yet we regard people from the Valmiki community as untouchables. We won't get his blessings till we stop this hypocrisy,' Adityanath said in Ayodhya.

​

Various seers and priests took offence to Adityanath’s comments including chief priest of the Ram Temple and President of Ram Janambhumi Trust reacted sharply to this statement and called this an insult to Lord Ram and Sant Samaj. They said that Maharishi Valmiki was the author of Ramayana and had no connection with the Dalit Valmiki community “which belongs to the scheduled caste”.

“To remain politically relevant, people have started showing-off their Gotra. The people who used to say that we are accidentally Hindu, are today realizing that they were wrong and are followers of the Sanatan Dharma too. They have started remembering their Gotra. I fell this is Sanatan Dharma's victory,” Adityanath said.

Adityanath earlier faced flak for calling the Hindu God Lord Hanuman a Dalit. He made the comments while campaigning for a BJP candidate in Alwar’s Malpura assembly seat. Adityanath said that Hanuman dwelled in forests, and was also a Dalit and therefore excluded from the society. He further said that the whole Indian community from "north to south and east to west", is united, "thanks to Lord Hanuman".

