BJP slams SP's 'silence' after cleric booked in UP for controversial remark on Krishna

Lucknow, Jul 18 (PTI) BJP on Saturday targeted Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over cleric Maulana Jarjis Ansari's alleged controversial remarks -- that Lord Krishna offered namaz five times a day -- even as Lucknow police have registered an FIR, booking the cleric for hurting Hindu religious sentiments. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya sought to link the controversy to the Samajwadi Party (SP), alleging in a post on X that Muslim leaders "patronised" by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had become "so emboldened" that they were now making remarks about Lord Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita. He claimed the controversy surfaced after some Hindu seers urged the SP to support the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi cause. Maurya termed the alleged remarks an "insult to the faith of Hindus" and accused some leaders of indulging in appeasement by defending such statements. He further asked the SP to clarify its stand on the issue and said that if Yadav considered himself a descendant and devotee of Lord Krishna, he should publicly condemn the remarks and apologise to Hindus for hurting the sentiments of millions of devotees. According to the FIR lodged at Hazratganj police station on July 16, the complainant alleged that Ansari made the remarks during a religious gathering and that a video of the speech later went viral on social media, hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and creating the potential to disturb public peace. Police have booked Ansari under the relevant section of the BNS pertaining to acts intended to wound religious feelings and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, police officials said. The FIR was lodged after members of the Hindu Mahasabha submitted a complaint. The outfit's national spokesperson Shishir Chaturvedi also appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take action against the cleric. The complaint followed the circulation of a video purportedly showing Ansari addressing a religious gathering in Jharkhand earlier this year. As the controversy escalated, the BJP targeted Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav over the issue. A poster put up in Lucknow's Gautampalli area on Saturday questioned Yadav's silence over the alleged remarks. The poster, carrying the name of BJP leader Manish Yadav, read "The maulvi is being patronised by Akhilesh; has Lord Krishna now been declared a Muslim?" It further asked, "Akhilesh ji, why are you silent when mullahs and maulvis are claiming that Lord Krishna, revered by millions, was a Muslim?" There was no immediate response from the Samajwadi Party on the poster or the allegations. PTI CDN PRK