With elections approaching, Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has been busy making new promises to the people almost every day. As part of this, he has also said that when he comes to power, he will develop Buddhist pilgrimage sites. But regarding this promise, people of Uttar Pradesh, and especially Dalit and oppressed sections of society, must certainly consider what the past of SP has been and what its attitude towards Buddhist pilgrimage sites has been in the past. The truth is that the development or preservation of Buddhist religious sites and monuments has never been on the Samajwadi Party's agenda. On the contrary, one incident shows how Buddhist followers were insulted during its rule.
Akhilesh Yadav became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in March 2012. On August 17, 2012, Alvida namaz was offered at 'Tile Wali Masjid' in Lucknow. After the namaz, a Muslim crowd, in a planned manner, moved from the mosque towards Buddha Park while raising slogans in support of Rohingya Muslims. The police force present at the spot did not stop them because it was well aware of the SP’s Muslim appeasement policy. The completely unruly crowd attacked Buddha Park and climbed onto the statue of Lord Buddha and broke it. Other Buddhist symbols and shops were also vandalised.
The violent crowd did not stop there. It launched a murderous attack on Bhante Shri Ashokanand ji and his disciples, beat them severely and tore their clothes because they also hated the saffron robes of Buddhist monks. Their three vehicles were damaged. The question arises: why was this done? Because after the Alvida namaz, poison had been spewed among Muslims against the Buddhists of Myanmar (Burma). At that time, clashes were taking place in Myanmar between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhist citizens of Myanmar. Rohingya Muslims attacked Buddhists, burnt their houses and carried out several massacres. They wanted to free Myanmar’s ‘Arakan’ region of Buddhists and turn it into a ‘Muslim’ country. Buddhists defended themselves, and ultimately, in the communal riots that took place there, the Rohingya Muslims were forced to flee.
After this, large numbers of Rohingya Muslims entered India through Bangladesh and began creating disturbances here as well and also carried out terrorist incidents. The big question is why the fleeing Rohingya did not seek refuge in any of the world’s 56 Muslim countries and why India? Under an international conspiracy, Muslim terrorists and their community across the world want to turn India into ‘Dar-ul-Islam’, that is, ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. The conflict took place in Myanmar, but the Buddha statue was broken in Lucknow; Buddhist saint Bhante Ashokanand and his disciples were attacked in Lucknow. Bhante Ashokanand ji lodged an FIR at Hazratganj police station. Still, the Akhilesh government, pursuing the politics of appeasement, took no action against the rioters and accused... because the rioters were Muslims.
This incident is a major example of anarchy under the protection of those in power. The rioters, vandalising property in Hazratganj, reached the Vidhan Sabha Marg, but the police did not even resort to tear gas or lathi charges. It was the first time that a mob of rioters, vandalising property from Chowk, passed through sensitive Hazratganj and reached in front of the Vidhan Sabha. Police officers moved ahead of the crowd, closing shops in Hazratganj as they proceeded. A case under the ‘National Security Act’ (NSA) should have been registered against the rioters. Still, Akhilesh ji did not even have any action taken under the sections of the IPC.
I want to tell Akhilesh Yadav ji that the Bharatiya Janata Party government respects all religions. That is why the “Virasat se Vikas” scheme was formulated. In Ayodhya, a grand Ram Mandir, Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, Maa Vindhyavasini Corridor, an international airport in Kushinagar and the development of Buddhist sites under the ‘Buddhist Circuit’ scheme are taking place in the state. In my home district, Siddharthnagar, the relics of Lord Buddha were taken from the stupa at his birthplace, 'Kapilvastu', in 1898 by an English zamindar, William, and taken to London. Those relics were scheduled to be auctioned in Hong Kong on May 7, 2025. Under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, not only was the auction stopped, but those sacred relics were brought to India and installed in a newly constructed memorial at Rai Pithora Fort in Delhi. I also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Ji on May 5, 2025, to stop the auction. Akhilesh ji should go there, but he will not; he will not go to Ayodhya either, because the question is about the vote bank.
Buddhists were insulted during the Akhilesh regime, while they were respected during the BJP regime. Babasaheb had embraced Buddhism at Nagpur. Prime Minister Ji built ‘Panch Teerth’ in honour of Babasaheb, including the Nagpur Deekshabhoomi. During the Akhilesh regime, Babasaheb was insulted in Uttar Pradesh. His name was removed from Kannauj Medical College, named after him. The name of Babasaheb Ambedkar Green Garden was changed to ‘Janeshwar Mishra Park’. At the inauguration of the Ghaziabad Haj House on September 5, 2016, Akhilesh Yadav’s favourite minister, Azam Khan, called Babasaheb a land mafia, and Akhilesh ji did not even stop him and kept clapping. This was an open example of his hatred towards Babasaheb.
I have no hesitation in saying that Akhilesh Yadav ji’s agenda is ‘Muslim appeasement’. He himself is also anti-Buddhist, anti-Dalit, against great Dalit personalities and against saints. Akhilesh ji, who in 2013 demoted more than one lakh Dalit officers and employees and who had the Samajwadi Party’s Dalit MP Yashveer (Nagina, Bijnor) tear up the bill providing reservation in promotions for Dalits in the Lok Sabha, does not look credible when speaking about developing Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Dalits will never forgive the SP. Unless it answers for these historical crimes of the past and its policy of appeasement, its claims of protecting Buddhist sites are nothing more than a political web of illusion.
Vande Mataram, Namo Buddhay!
About the Author: Brij Lal is a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and former Director General of Police, Uttar Pradesh.
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