SWAMI PRASAD’S WEBSITE HACKED?

The website of Uttar Pradesh labour minister Swami Prasad Maurya was apparently hacked on Wednesday amid a controversy over comments on Muhammad Ali Jinnah attributed to him.

Maurya, who has denied making such remarks, said he suspected the involvement of “hackers from Pakistan”.

HT could not independently verify the claim.

“But now those who manage my site have restored it. I have no clue how these hackers work,” Maurya said.

His team submitted a complaint to the cyber cell of the Uttar Pradesh police after the message “Pakistan Kashmir Zindabad” popped up on the website.

Another BJP leader on Thursday sought Maurya’s resignation after reports quoted him as calling the founder of Pakistan a ‘mahapurush’ (a great personality).

Maurya reportedly praised him when asked to comment on the row sparked by another BJP MP Satish Gautam, who had objected to Jinnah’s portrait being displayed at Aligarh Muslim University.

Maurya told reporters on Wednesday that he had not made any such statement, even as Harnath Singh Yadav, a BJP Rajya Sabha member, targeted him.

“Maurya, who had called Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a heinous criminal who trifurcated the country, a great personality should retract his statement, apologise or be immediately removed from the party,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi.