Samajwadi Party leader Swami Prasad Maurya has once again stoked controversy by saying that Hinduism is not a religion but a form of deception, reported NDTV on Tuesday.

At the National Buddist and Bahujan Rights Conference in Delhi, Maurya claimed that the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangha chief Mohan Bhagwat have stated that Hinduism is not a religion, but a “way of life”.

“In 1955, the Supreme Court said in its order that Hindu is not a religion but a way of life,” he said. “Sentiments do not get hurt when these people make such statements but if Swami Prasad Maurya says it, the remarks cause unrest.”

In its landmark judgement in 1995, the court had defined Hindutva or Hindu as “a way of life and not a religion in India”, thus approving the use of the words in election campaigns.

Following Maurya’s comments, an advocate named Vineet Jindal said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had filed a complaint against Maurya with Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has advised his party cadre to not make any comments on religion and caste, reported India Today. Yadav met with representatives of Kannauj’s Prabuddha Samaj and Maha Brahmin Samaj Panchayat at the party headquarters in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.

The meeting was held after some party workers raised an objection to Maurya’s remarks.

Maurya had also said at the Bahujan Rights Conference that leaders from the Hindu upper classes use Bahujan votes to come to power and cancel reservations after doing so, reported ANI.

“Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas together make up 8% of the population,” he said. “These 8% cannot form a government on its own. These have exploited the backward classes and formed the government in the name of Hindu.”

In August, Maurya posted a video on X, in which he could be heard saying that “Hinduism is just a hoax”.

“The roots of Brahminism are very deep and the reason for all the disparity is also Brahminism,” he said. “There is no religion called Hindu.”

In July, he said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party looks for a temple in every mosque then people would soon start searching for a Buddhist monastery in every temple.

Maurya’s comments came on the heels of the Allahabad High Court order on July 27 that had stayed the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque premises in Varanasi till August 3.

He had said that if the survey is taking place inside the mosque, it should also be surveyed what was before the Hindu temple.

“I believe most of the present Hindu temples were Buddhist religious places like temples, monasteries or learning centres,” the politician said. “They [Hindu temples] have been constructed after demolishing them.”