US bombardment in Afghanistan was God's punishment for Taliban: Yogi

The chief minister was speaking at a 'Samajik Pratinidhi Sammelan' in Lucknow on Sunday when he recalled the 'barbarism' of Taliban

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said that the US bombing on Taliban after the terrorist organisation had destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan, was God's punishment.

"When the Taliban had destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha then we were sure that they would be punished by God....the US bombing on them was their punishment," Adityanath said while addressing a BJP sponsored 'Samajik Pratinidhi Sammelan' here.

"Buddha always advocated non-violence...his message is peace and brotherhood and destroying his statue was part of a conspiracy to prevent his message from spreading far and wide," he added.

Adityanath sought to draw a parallel between Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and the Taliban in a veiled manner, saying that those supporting Mohammad Ali Jinnah were, in fact, supporting Taliban.

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"The opposition does not have any issue....it humiliates Sardar Patel and showers praise on Jinnah," he remarked.

Akhilesh had, at a public meeting at Hardoi a few days back, likened Jinnah to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel.

Adityanath also sought to question Indian history by saying that while Alexander was termed 'great', Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire in ancient India, who had defeated Alexander, was not called 'great'. "The historians are silent on this issue," he added.

Adityanath's reference to Bamiyan Buddha was being seen as an attempt to woo the followers of Buddhism among the OBCs and SCs in the state. The 'sammelan' was attended by the representatives of 'Maurya, Kushwaha, Saini and Shakya' communities.

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