New Delhi, June 9 (AHN) Hindu seers, on Tuesday, defended Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "love jihad" and "dharmshala" remarks while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the CM, saying "Sanatan Dharma promotes brotherhood".

A political row erupted after CM Adityanath, while addressing 'Shri Ram Katha Mahotsav', said: "...After all, what were Khar-Dushan doing, what were Maricha and Subahu doing, they too were involved in land jihad. Forcibly occupying. Forcibly spotting any empty land and pitching their own tent on it. All of this must stop."

He further said: "The land of India cannot be a dharmshala for those invaders who have no faith in India, who do not hold loyalty toward India, who cannot respect India's traditions."

Defending Adityanath's statement, Mahant Sitaram Das Maharaj of Ayodhya's Saket Bhavan temple said: "It is true, India is not a 'dharmshala'."

"Those who don't love India's culture and traditions don't have the right to reside in the country. Those who intend to do the politics of appeasement will be thrown out. They have no right to live here. India will not tolerate the politics of appeasement," he told AHN.

Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, National General Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, also supported Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s statement on “land jihad", saying that challenges faced during Lord Ram’s era and the present situation appear similar.

Echoing a similar view, UP minister Sanjay Nishad said: "Every Indian citizen has the right to reside in this country, but people coming from outside cannot stay here permanently."

"In today's day and age, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's efforts towards preserving India's culture, traditions, and social values are praiseworthy. We all support our Chief Minister's efforts to protect our culture and national identity," he told AHN.

He added: "We had a rich culture and traditions, but foreigners who attacked India have destroyed the nation. This is history."

Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called CM Adityanath's remarks inappropriate. "He does not seem to have any affection for love, but rather for land. If you check in Gorakhpur, you will find in whose names the maximum registrations have taken place. He should not be making such statements, especially in religious programmes," Yadav said.

He asserted that the 'Sanatan Dharma' binds people together and shows the path of love. "It promotes brotherhood among people. Friendship is the biggest thing in Sanatan, that is why I said we need to become 'Bandhu Rashtra' (friendly state)," he told reporters.

Further, the SP chief said, "Also, Sanatan is the path of truth. One who is the head of the government (in Uttar Pradesh) does not adopt the path of truth."