Rajasthan BJP President Madan Lal Saini being greeted by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje during his oath ceremony at BJP Office, in June 30, 2018. (Source: PTI Photo)
Rajasthan BJP president Madan Lal Saini has stoked up a controversy by saying that when Mughal emperor Humayun was on his deathbed, he summoned Babur and told him to respect cows, Brahmins and women if he wanted to rule India.
The statement is factually incorrect as Babur, who was the father of Humayun, had died in 1531, around 25 years before the latter’s death in 1556.
Saini said this on Tuesday while he was speaking to reporters in Jaipur on the issue of the alleged killing of Rakbar Khan in Alwar while he was transporting cows to his village in Haryana.
“Kisi bhi samaj, desh, dharm ke shraddha ke bindu ka samman sabhi logo ne karna chahiye. Mujhe yaad ata hai, jab Humayun mar raha tha, us samay usne Babur ko bulaya tha. Aur unhone kaha tha ki Hindustan me tumko sashan karna hai to teen chizo ka dhyan rakhna. (People should respect the points of belief of any country, society or religion. I remember, when Humayun was dying, he summoned Babur. And he had said that if you want to rule Hindustan, you should keep three things in mind),” Saini had told reporters on Tuesday.
“Ek to gaai, Brahman aur mahila, inke izzat pe kisi bhi tarah ka inke apman nahi hona chahiye. Hindustan isko sahan nahi karta hai (There shouldn’t be any insult to the honour of cow, Brahmin and women. Hindustan doesn’t tolerate this),” the Rajasthan BJP president had added.
Referring to the death of Rakbar, Saini said that he was previously booked under cases of cow smuggling.
“Aur mai aapko yaad dilana chahata hu, kattar se kattar, Aurangzeb ke time bhi go hatya band thi. Muslim baadshaho ne kabhi go hatya ko allow nahi kiya. Ye kaise unke mannewale hain, aur jiska varnaan hai, wo go taskar tha, is baare ka uspar mukadma bhi hai. (And I want to make you remember that even the most fundamentalist, during Aurangzeb’s time, cow slaughter was banned. Muslim emperors never allowed cow slaughter. How these people are their followers, and the person who is documented, that he was a cow smuggler, he also had case against him in this regard,” said Saini.
However, Saini added that the death of Rakbar was unfortunate.
“Ab, ye ghatna durbhagyapurna hai, apan democracy me jite hai, apne yahan kanoon ka raj hai…isliye kisi ne kanoon ko haath me nahi lena chahiye (Now, this incident is unfortunate, we live in a democracy, we have a rule of law…That’s why nobody should take the law in their hands),” said Saini.
Saini’s statement has drawn flak from the opposition Congress, that has slammed the party for citing ‘wrongly facts from the past’ to divert attention from the present.
“There is nothing to be surprised from Saini’s statement because even the Prime Minister cites wrong historical facts. They don’t check facts and cite wrong history in order to divert attention from the present and the issues which are affecting the people,” said Rajasthan Congress vice president Archana Sharma.
Saini, a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan was appointed as the state president of the BJP last month, more than two months after former state party chief Ashok Parnami had resigned in April.