Congress publicity head Pawan Khera has accused the BJP of betraying the religion it “misuses to come to power”, citing a video that purports to show policemen in Uttar Pradesh dragging away followers of Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati — the leader of Uttarakhand’s Jyotishpeeth — by their hair.
Khera linked this to a rash of atrocities against religious minorities, saying this showed why people shouldn’t trust Prime Minister Narendra Modi because his "message" was “Na hum kaam ke hain, na Ram ke hain (Neither am I of any use, nor am I loyal to Lord Ram)”.
Avimukteshwaranand — who holds the legally disputed position of the Shankaracharya of Jyotishpeeth — is a trenchant critic of the Modi government and had refused to attend the Pran Pratishthan ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in 2024. He had also questioned the Centre for not imposing a ban on cow slaughter.
Since Sunday, he has been on a hunger strike at the annual Magh Mela in Allahabad after 12 of his supporters were injured in police action to prevent them from carrying him in a palanquin for the ritual Shahi Snan (royal bath) at the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna.
Khera said: “If Muslims get education in college, they shut down the college. If Muslims open a school for Hindu children, the school will be shut down. If a Muslim walks on the street, they will pull his beard. They will snatch his cap. They will make derogatory remarks about him. He will be lynched....
“This video shows what is happening to Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranandji. What is his crime? That he criticises you? That he doesn’t praise you? He refuses to praise you. When you consecrate an incomplete temple, he objects. He criticises you for the mismanagement at the Mahakumbh where so many people lost their lives. He talks about the bodies floating in the Ganga during Covid.... You use and misuse religion to come to power. And you do this to the top saints of that very religion.”
Khera added: “With Muslims, with Hindus, with Christians, what did you see during Christmas? You can’t bear to see anyone’s happiness. You play DJ music and make people dance in front of mosques. Our Shahi Snan on Mauni Amavasya — it is an unbroken tradition. Demons disrupt this unbroken tradition. This is the work of demons. This cannot be the work of humans. As I told you, neither the Mughals nor the British could do it, but the demons did.”
Questioning the BJP’s “Hindu” credentials, he added: “What do you think Modiji and (Amit) Shahji want to convey to the entire Hindu community or to everyone? The message from Modiji is clear: Don’t trust us; na hum kaam ke hain, na Ram ke hain. We belong to Ambani and Adani, and no one else. We will give (RSS head) Mohan Bhagwat Z-plus security. But we will pull the tufts of Swami Avimukteshwaranandji’s disciples. We will break their palanquin. We will not let them perform the royal bath. We will break an unbroken tradition. This is the message.”
The police have justified the use of force to control the devotees and have released videos of them purportedly breaking barricades.