Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Credit: X/@myogiadityanath
Lucknow: Amid the ongoing protests by prominent Hindu seer Swami Avimukteshwarananda against refusal of the authorities to allow him to proceed to the ‘sangam’ (the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarswati rivers), at Prayagraj in his chariot for the holy dip on Mani Amavasya on recently and alleged manhandling of his disciples by the sops, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath launched a veiled attack on him on Thursday cautioning against the ‘fake’ seers.
Adityanath said that some elements were conspiring against the Sanatan Dharma that there was a need to be on the alert from such ‘Kalnemis’ (Kalnemi was a character in the Hindu epic Ram Charit Manas who was a relative of the demon king Ravana and who had, in the garb of a sadhu, tried to stop Lord Hanuman from bring the Sanjeevani booti from the Himalayas when Rama’s brother Luxman had been hurt during the latter’s battle with Ravana’s brother Meghnad).
‘’Such people look religious outwardly but they work on an anti-religion agenda,’’ he added.
Avimukteshwarananda had claimed that the police had ‘misbehaved’ with him on the direction of Yogi Adityanath and alleged his disciples were assaulted by the police.
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav slammed the BJP government for ‘humiliating’ the seer and said that the ‘sahankaracharya’ must be accorded all due respect.
The seer, who has been on a ‘dharna’ for the past few days, was served a notice by the ‘Magh Mela’ (an annual ritual on the bank of the Ganga) authorities asking him to prove that he was the ‘Shankaracharya’ of Jyotish Peeth.
It said that Avimukteshwarananda was not yet anointed as the Shankaracharya yet the board outside his Camps mentioned him as the one, which was a violation of the apex court order.
He has vowed not to enter his Ashram unless the authorities tendered an apology to him.