Akbar wasn’t great, he was a molester: Raj BJP chief

JAIPUR: Making yet another controversial statement, Rajasthan BJP president Madan Lal Saini on Thursday claimed that Mughal emperor Akbar was not “great” but a “molester”, who used to organise “Meena Bazaar” to exploit women. He also said comparing Akbar with Maharana Pratap amounted to mocking history.
“Akbar used to organise ‘Meena Bazaar’. The world knows that only women used to work there and men didn’t have permission to enter. The kind of misdeeds Akbar used to commit under disguise are also recorded in the pages of history,” Saini said on the occasion of Maharana Pratap Jayanti.
He also claimed that a Rajput woman, Kiran Devi, had got ‘Meena Bazaar’ closed. “His (Akbar’s) actual intention was to molest and indulge in inappropriate activities. Kiran was careful and alert. When confronted by Akbar, she pushed him to the ground and threatened him by pointing a dagger to his chest. Akbar begged for his life and pleaded that the ‘Badshah of Hindustan’ lay at her feet. From that day, the bazaar was closed,” he said.
“To compare such a person with Maharana Pratap is a mockery of history. This will not inspire future generations of the country,” he added.
Reacting to the comment, state Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said, “We all recognise the greatness of Maharana Pratap. To speak about Akbar or any other person in this manner on the auspicious occasion of his Jayanti shows that he (Saini) is trying to politicise the issue. Facts are facts. The characters in history cannot come back and say what the reality was then. As an opposition leader, he should be more responsible in making such remarks.”