It's all getting a bit out of hand. In just a few weeks, Hanuman, one of the Hindu epic Ramayan's most beloved characters, has been called a Jain, a Dalit and a Muslim. The debate shows little sign of abating: a BJP minister in the Uttar Pradesh government now argues that the great warrior was a Jaat.
But how exactly does Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan Singh, the latest man to weigh in on the apparently pressing question of Hanuman's religion, justify his view? Simple. When Jaats see someone in trouble, he says, they jump in -- even if they don't know the people or the issue. He points out that Hanuman helped Ram and his abducted wife Sita without knowing who they were.
Here, listen to the man himself.
#WATCH Uttar Pradesh Minister Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan says ' I think Hanuman ji was a Jaat, because upon seeing someone being troubled a Jaat also jumps in even without knowing the issue or the people' pic.twitter.com/Scjme1PgCD
ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 21, 2018
But even within the BJP, there appears to be some disagreement about Hanuman's antecedents.
Last month Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan Singh's boss, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said Hanuman was a "forest dweller" and a Dalit. He got a legal notice. Then Savitrabhai Phule, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, called him a slave of manuvadi people -- caste Hindus. And yesterday, Bukkal Nawab, a member of UP's legislative council, said he was a Muslim.
"People have already realised that the Bharatiya Janata Party went back on its promise of job creation and boosting the agricultural sector. They have realised that instead, the ruling party brings Yogi Adityanath to discuss Hanuman's caste and what not."
Twitterati howled after Chaudhary Lakshmi Narayan Singh's views were reported today. "I think Yogi must call a cabinet meeting..." one man wrote, "...and discuss with his ministers, and then come out with [the] correct caste so that there is no more confusion among him and his ministers."
Better still: No more discussion of this. Ever.