Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said that most of the ''slokas'' (couplets) of the Vedas were written by sages, who hailed from the Scheduled Caste community.
Adityanath also referred to Valmiki and said that the latter's 'Ramayana' was the basis for the all the 'Ramayanas' written by different authors across the world.
''The ancestors of the people, who we call Dalits today, were the sages, who wrote most of the slokas of Vedas,'' he said while speaking at a function in Ayodhya, about 150 kilometres from Lucknow.
''It is unfortunate that we treat such people (Scheduled Castes) as untouchables,'' Adityanath added.
He said that the people had ''forgotten'' their culture and traditions and had adopted foreign cultures.
The chief minister also targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his speech.
''The fact that Rahul was forced to wear janeu (sacred thread) and reveal his gotra (clan) is our ideological victory,'' he remarked.
Adityanath's remarks come in the wake of a backlash over his reported statement terming Lord Hanuman as a Scheduled Caste, while addressing an election rally at Alwar in Rajasthan a few days ago.
Members of the community claimed ownership over Hanuman temples across the state.
They also forcibly entered into many of the Hanuman temples.
Adityanath's political opponents also pounced on him for the remarks and made it an issue in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
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