A political storm erupted online after screenshots claiming to be from a Madhya Pradesh government affidavit in the OBC reservation case went viral, alleging that Hindu scriptures like the Ramayana and Manusmriti were blamed for caste oppression.
The pages triggered sharp outrage, with social media handles accusing the BJP government of endorsing “leftist propaganda” in court. Hashtags branding the state “anti-Hindu” trended for hours, with opposition figures amplifying the claims.
Government clarification
By evening, the Madhya Pradesh government issued a formal clarification. It categorically denied that the controversial remarks formed part of its affidavit. Instead, officials said, the viral text came from the Mahajan Commission report — a Congress-era panel constituted in 1980 that submitted its report in 1983.
In its statement, the state Gov explained:
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The remarks are from Part I of the Ramji Mahajan Commission report, not from the BJP government’s affidavit.
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Such commission reports, along with other records (1994–2011 annual reports, the 2022 OBC Welfare Commission report), were placed before the High Court earlier and automatically form part of the judicial record before the Supreme Court.
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The inclusion of such reports in a case file does not mean endorsement by the current government.
The government also underlined that while the Mahajan report recommended 35% reservation, the BJP administration has pursued 27%, demonstrating it does not treat the earlier commission as binding.
It called the viral claims “false, fabricated, misleading and motivated,” adding that spreading selective excerpts of historical reports amounted to “deliberate propaganda.” Officials warned of strict action against those responsible for the misinformation.
Counterclaims continue
Despite the clarification, activist Shubham Sharma, who is part of the OBC case, publicly asserted on X that the Mahajan report was indeed filed by the state in the High Court in 2019 and is now before the Supreme Court. He challenged the government to file an FIR against him if his statements were false, while also sharing documents to back his claim.
This highlights the core tension: while the BJP government insists the affidavit itself carries no anti-Hindu remarks, critics argue that by continuing to submit old reports into the judicial record, the state has allowed ideological biases of past Congress regimes to persist within the system.
Larger implications
This controversy underscores a deeper challenge: how historical documents influenced by a particular political ideology remain embedded in official records long after governments change. As a result, even when current administrations reject those views, they risk being accused of tacitly validating them.
For supporters of the BJP, the episode has raised troubling questions: Why do leftist, Congress-era narratives still find space in official records? And how can they be cleansed from the system to prevent similar flare-ups in the future?
