Bihar: Amid ongoing unrest in Uttar Pradesh over ‘I Love Mohammad’ posters, Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has stated that saying “I love Mahadev” is similarly disrespectful to the deity. The religious leader asserted that the entire controversy is a ploy to divert public attention from more pressing matters.
The Shankaracharya, who has a history of making contentious remarks, questioned the nature of such declarations. “I don’t know about Mohammed… But is saying, ‘I love Mahadev’, an honour or an insult to Mahadev?” he said during an address in Bihar’s Bettiah.
He firmly categorized the phrase as an insult, asking, “Is Mahadev a matter of worship or love?” and termed the usage “disrespectful.” He concluded that the ‘I love Mohammed, I love Mahadev’ dispute was manufactured to distract the public from what he called “real issues.”
This commentary comes against a backdrop of protests in Uttar Pradesh. Last Friday, approximately 2,000 demonstrators clashed with police outside a mosque. The unrest was linked to a call for protest by Maulana Tauqeer Raza, a cleric and Ittehad-e-Millat Council chief, in support of the ‘I Love Muhammad’ posters.
Despite a last-minute announcement from the cleric that the demonstration was cancelled, the situation escalated, leading to the arrest of at least 81 individuals. The initial protest was organized in response to an FIR filed against 24 people for allegedly installing the “I Love Muhammad” boards during a Barawafat procession on September 4.
The posters had drawn objections from Hindu groups in the area, who labeled them a “deliberate provocation.” Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, who was subsequently arrested by police, had originally called for a procession to the district magistrate’s office to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi protesting the FIR.
