Now, Union Minister says Lord Hanuman was not Dalit, but Arya

New Delhi, Dec 1: Refuting UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claim that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit, Union Minister Satypal Singh has said that Lord Hanuman was from Aryan race. Singh said that there were no castes during Lord Ram's era and everyone was Arya.

This can possibly spiral into a controversy as it is believed that Aryans came to India thousands of years ago from Middle East Asia. As the Aryan culture spread, it took over indigenous culture and eventually Vedic culture became dominant in the Indian subcontinent. Now, Lord Rama was from Aryan race, but the race of Lord Hanuman is debatable. It is by and large believed that Hanuman was a native and a forest dweller.

Earlier this week, Yogi Adityanath, during a poll rally in Malakheda of Alwar district, said, "Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to connect all Indian communities together, from north to south and east to west."

The heated discussion about the community that Lord Hanuman belonged to took another turn yesterday with the chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes saying the god was a tribal.

Union Minister Satypal Singh said that there was no caste system during the era of Lord Ram. Now, this again is a debatable issue.

"Bhagwan Ram aur Hanuman ji ke yug mein, iss desh mein koi jaati-vyavastha nahi thi, koi dalit, vanchit, soshit nahi tha. Valmiki Ramayan aur Ramcharitmanas ko aap agar padhenge to aapko malum chalega ki uss samay koi jaati-vyavasthan nahi thi (During the era of Lord Ram and Hanuman, there was no caste system. If you study Valmiki Ramayan and Ramcharitmanas (Written by Tulsidas), you will know that there was no there was no caste system, there were no Dalits or the exploited," Union Minister Satypal Singh reportedly said.

"Hanuman ji arya theyy. Iss baat ko maine spasht kiya hai, uss samay arya jaati thi aur Hanuman ji usi arya jaati ke mahapurush theyy (Lord Hanuman was an Arya. I clearly say this. There was only Arya caste in those times. Hanuman was a great man from Arya race," he said.

Rajasthan Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha president Suresh Mishra has also sent a notice to Adityanath, accusing him of dragging Lord Hanuman's caste for political gain for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state where assembly polls would be held on December 7.

The matter of where Aryans came from is a contentious issue in India. The opinion of the people is divided over it. Aryans laid the foundation of Vedic culture in India which finally evolved, got mixed with local cultures and what we see now is an amalgamation of pure Vedic culture and indigenous cultures.