<p class="title rtejustify">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.</p>.<p class="title rtejustify">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''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.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''It is unfortunate that we treat such people (Scheduled Castes) as untouchables,'' Adityanath added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">He said that the people had ''forgotten'' their culture and traditions and had adopted foreign cultures.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The chief minister also targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his speech.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''The fact that Rahul was forced to wear janeu (sacred thread) and reveal his gotra (clan) is our ideological victory,'' he remarked.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">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. </p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Members of the community claimed ownership over Hanuman temples across the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">They also forcibly entered into many of the Hanuman temples. </p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">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.</p>
<p class="title rtejustify">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.</p>.<p class="title rtejustify">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''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.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''It is unfortunate that we treat such people (Scheduled Castes) as untouchables,'' Adityanath added.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">He said that the people had ''forgotten'' their culture and traditions and had adopted foreign cultures.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">The chief minister also targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his speech.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">''The fact that Rahul was forced to wear janeu (sacred thread) and reveal his gotra (clan) is our ideological victory,'' he remarked.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">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. </p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">Members of the community claimed ownership over Hanuman temples across the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">They also forcibly entered into many of the Hanuman temples. </p>.<p class="bodytext rtejustify">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.</p>