Lucknow, December 20: The controversial debate over Lord Hanuman's caste was in the news recently, with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders making statements in public. Now, even Lord Hanuman’s religion is also being discussed as BJP leader, and lawmaker Bukkal Nawab claims Hanumanji was a ‘Muslaman’ (Muslim), and due to this the name of Muslims are kept as Rehman, Ramzan, Farman, Zishan, Qurban etc.

Expressing his opinion, while speaking with the ANI, he said, “Hamara man'na hai Hanuman ji Muslaman theyy, isliye Musalmanon ke andar jo naam rakha jata hai Rehman, Ramzan, Farman, Zishan, Qurban jitne bhi naam rakhe jaate hain wo karib karib unhi par rakhe jaate hain. (My thinking is that Hanumanji was a Muslim. Therefore names of Muslims are kept as Rehman, Ramzan, Farman, Zishan, Qurban. All the Muslim names are kept based on Hanumanji’s name)” Lord Hanuman Was a Dalit, Slave of 'Manuwadi' People: BJP MP.

This is not the first time the BJP lawmaker – switched side from Samajwadi Party in 2017 and joined the saffron party – made a controversial comment. Previously too, while sharing a stage with Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in October, he had asked whether they (Muslim) outfits would favour construction of a mosque at Ram Janmabhoomi complex (RJB) and offer namaz if a mosque was built there.

Facing criticism from the party, he tried to clarify his statements, but was taken into consideration. He later said, “Aap meri baat samajh hee nahi paaye hain (You couldn’t understand what I said). What I want to say is that offering prayer at any controversial place is haram in Islam.”

Considered as one of the closest aides of Samajwadi Party stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nawab quit the party and joined BJP before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017. He was the founder president of Rashtriya Shia Samaj and was with the Samajwadi Party since 1992.

Previously, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called Lord Hanuman a ‘Dalit’’, while BJP leader Gyan Dev Ahuja and Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Nand Kumar Sai had referred the Hindu God to be ‘tribal’.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 20, 2018 04:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).