Statues of Sai Baba were removed from several temples in Varanasi on Tuesday following a campaign by a group called ‘Sanatan Rakshak Dal’.

Of these, the group here removed a Sai Baba statue from the Bada Ganesh temple and placed it outside the temple premises.

Rammu Guru, the head priest of the temple, said, “Sai Baba was worshiped without proper knowledge, which is forbidden according to the scriptures.”

Similarly, Shankar Puri, the head priest of Annapurna Temple, said, “Worship of Sai Baba is not mentioned in the scriptures.”

Meanwhile, Raju Das, mahant of Hanumangarhi temple in Ayodhya, told PTI, “Sai can be a ‘dharm guru’ (religious preacher), a ‘mahapurush’ (great person), a ‘peer’ or an ‘aulia’ , but he cannot be a “Bhagvaan” (God). I am grateful to the person in Varanasi who removed the idol (of Sai Baba). “I request all Sanatanis in the country to remove the idol from “Chaand Peer” (Sai ​​Baba) temple.”

Ajay Sharma, state president of the Sanatan Rakshak Dal, said, “In Kashi (Varanasi), only worship of Lord Shiva, the supreme deity, should take place.” To respect the sentiments of devotees, statues of Sai Baba have already been removed from ten temples . Statues would also be removed from Agastyakunda and Bhuteshwar temples in the coming days, he said.

Priest of Sai Temple at Sant Raghuvar Das Nagar in Sigra district, Samar Ghosh, said: “Those who claim to be Sanatanis today are the same people who established Sai Baba in the temples and now they are the ones , who do.” I removed him from there. God cannot be seen in any form. They will violate people’s faith and spread discord.

Ghosh mentioned that this Sai temple is open from 7 am to 10 pm daily and Sai devotees come for worship every day.

“Especially on Thursdays, around 4,000 to 5,000 devotees visit the temple to pay their respects,” he said.

Vivek Srivastava, a devotee of Sai Baba, said the removal of Sai Baba’s statue was an extremely disturbing event.

“This incident has hurt the faith of millions of Sai devotees. All gods are one. Everyone has the right to worship God in the form in which they believe. Whether Sai Baba was Hindu or Muslim, we are the ones who created these divisions.” “God makes no distinction between people,” said Srivastava.

Reacting to the developments, Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Manish Hindvi told PTI, “It is unfortunate that the BJP and its supporters have made religion a wrestling arena (‘akhara’) of politics, which should not be done . Sanatan Dharm is a religion that includes, absorbs and integrates all the good aspects of everyone (including other religions). If they want to remove the idol (from temples) in the name of fanaticism (“kattartaa”), then it is certainly not in their interest of the country.”

When contacted, SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan said, “It seems that the BJP is the No. 1 player when it comes to playing with ‘Aasthaa’ (faith in gods). Now they have even started to discriminate and divide.” Gods. Division and hatred appear to be the core nature of the BJP. If the Constitution does not provide for discrimination, then who are we?

Sai Baba is revered as a spiritual leader and is known for his teachings of love, forgiveness and charity that transcend religious boundaries.

On its website, the Shree Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi states that Sai Baba is revered as one of the greatest saints of all time in India, endowed with unparalleled powers and worshiped as God incarnate. (SAI means Sakshaat Ishwar) (God the Absolute).

“This mysterious fakir first appeared in Shirdi as a youth and remained there throughout his long life. He changed the lives of those who met him and continues to do so even after his samadhi in 1918 for those whose hearts are touched by his love and who pray and call upon him in every emergency in life to receive his blessings “ says the website.

The foundation also mentions that a salient aspect of Sai Baba is that he stands “beyond differences” of religion, caste or creed. He embodied all religions and preached the universal religion of love.

“Devotees of all faiths find their meeting place at Sai and people from all communities and all walks of life are united by the great love and reverence that Baba inspires in them. Baba had great respect for his Hindu followers and their gurus and he responded to their needs and allowed worship according to Hindu and other religious rituals. At the same time, his place of residence was a mosque (mosque) and the name of Allah was always on his lips…,” he added.