Sai Baba: Latest Target Of Hate Politics?

The revered saint Sai Baba has recently been at the centre of a religious controversy going on around India. Many Hindu organizations like the Sanatan Rakshak Sena, have been continuously pushing for his idols to be removed from temples across India.

These organisations argue that Sai Baba’s idol can’t be placed inside Sanatan temples as he is not considered a Hindu deity in the traditional sense. They support their statements by pointing out that Sai Baba can’t be portrayed as a deity because his name is not present in any of the ancient Hindu scriptures.

This movement has already led to the removal of Sai Baba’s idols from 14 temples across India, which is not being taken lightly by his followers. His devotees have said time and again that Sai Baba’s teachings embody love, unity, and mutual respect, making him rise above any single religion.

The opposition is also using this as a tool to hit out at the ruling BJP, as they say that this is a blatant attempt at polarization, which seems to be a tactic the BJP has been employing for a long time now.

With the movement gaining significant momentum, it seems that Sai Baba has become one of the latest victims of the ever-polarizing Indian politics, with the ruling BJP and the opposition both playing the blame game, but doing little to actually stop the increasing divide between the public.

While earlier attempts had also been made to remove Sai Baba from Hindu temples, most had been unsuccessful because they were met with fierce resistance from his devotees. This time it would be interesting to see whether this “idol policing” finally takes its grip over peoples’ minds.