Neither Dalit nor Tribal, Lord Hanuman was 'Arya,' claims HRD Minister Satyapal Singh

Union Minister Satyapal Singh stepped in the debate over Lord Hanuman being 'Dalit' on Friday. Singh claimed that Hanuman was neither Dalit nor Tribal, in fact, he was an Arya. Union Minister's came a day after the chairperson of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Nand Kumar Sai said that the Hindu God Hanuman a tribal. On which, Singh said he was an Arya.

“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. 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,” the Union Minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Earlier on Friday, the ST panel chief said, “Log ye samajhte hain ki Ram ke sena mein Bhaloo the, banar the, giddh the…Hamara janjaati samaaj alag alag hai, kanwar samaaj mein ‘hanuman’ gotra alag se hai. Ram ke saath ladai me ye log gaye the (People think that ‘vanar’, ‘giddh’, ‘bhaalu’ were part of Lord Ram’s army. Our tribal community is different. There is ‘hanuman gotra’ in Kanwar community. People who belong to this gotra were part of the army).”

The debate on the Hanuman's caste struck after UP CM Yogi Adityanath called Hanuman 'Dalit.' UP CM Adityanath had said, “Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to unite all Indian communities, from north to south and east to west.”

Also read:Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra summoned by Enforcement Directorate in land deal case