Hanuman not a tribal but Jain: Priest

With religious figures being given a caste tag by political parties -- for their own good reasons -- communities too are eyeing the icons, hoping to appropriate them for posterity.

Lord Hanuman seems to be the flavour of the season. He has been dubbed a Dalit, a tribal, and now a Jain. A Jain priest in Bhopal has claimed that Hanuman was neither a Dalit nor a tribal, but a Jain. Aacharya Nirbhay Sagar Maharaj, who heads a Jain temple in Samasgad, nearly 25 km from Bhopal, said Hanuman was among the 169 great persons identified in Jainism. "Hanuman was a Kamdev. In Jainism, there are 24 Kamdevs. Hanuman was a kshatriya (warrior)." Making his claim, he said Jain scriptures have many references to Hanuman. "Like other Jains. Hanuman too did not have any caste," he explains, reports India Today.com.

The attempt to drag the likes of Hanuman into identity politics is beginning to have its toll. Days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed

that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit, Bhim Army chief has declared that members of the community should take over all Hanuman temples in the country and appoint Dalits as priests. A right-wing group in Rajasthan has already sent a legal notice to Adityanath, asking him to apologise for calling Lord Hanuman a Dalit. One wonders whether Lord Ram’s lieutenant would be happy with his new exclusionary fan following.