‘Maymay’ Deepak Sharma, the self-styled protector of religion who earned instant infamy because of his videos, is back. His earlier videos had him assaulting and threatening those who didn’t align with his political and religious beliefs, but his second brush with the media is decidedly more sombre. He now wants to rename prominent roads in Lutyens Delhi so that they are in tandem with ‘Indian culture’.
A video,which shows Sharma and his supporters protesting at Akbar Road, may have found its way to your timeline. They were demanding Akbar Road be renamed to Atal Bihari Vajpayee Marg. In the video, Sharma is seen telling the reporter that Vajpayee was a true nationalist and should be duly honoured.Upon being asked about his objection to the name Akbar, Sharma said that Vajpayee, in his poems, wrote extensively against the Mughals. Sharma, however, appears clueless about Vajpayee’s literary works. He had very little knowledge about Vajpayee’s political career too.
‘Britishers better than Mughals’
Sharma, an interior designer by profession, is the founder of Rashtriya Swabhiman Dal, an organisation that works to protect the interests of Hindu dharma as well as the nation. InUth spoke to the self-styled activist to know why his organisation wants to restructure the history of the country.
“There are two types of history, one is positive and other is negative. Mughals represent everything that is negative,” he said
Sharma went to add how Mughals destroyed Indian culture. “Mughals were worse than British. It is true that the Britishers looted our country and made us slaves. But they never destroyed Indian culture nor did they attack temples,” he added.
In 2015, when Aurangzeb road was renamed to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Sharma claims he was at the forefront in ensuring that the Mughal emperor’s name is erased. “We have to remove all symbols of Mughals from our history,” he said.
‘I have no problems with memes’
Sharma became famous on social media after he released a string of videos last year, where he openly threatened those who defame Hindusim. In one of the videos, he is seen assaulting a youth who allegedly ridiculed Hinduism. He later became a subject of ridicule as netizens trolled him with memes and jokes. But many also felt that Sharma’s self-styled activism in the name of religion is communal and poses a grave threat. “Have I ever defamed Muslims or Islam? Why am I branded as a Hindu fundamentalist? I am only saying that people should respect religious sentiments,” he said.
“I have no problems with memes. There are hundreds of memes which make fun of me. But there has to be a line,” he said.
Although he claims that his organisation is apolitical and isn’t affiliated with any political party, Sharma boasts that many leaders are supporting him for the cause. He is planning another protest on Tuesday outside BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
But can changing names of public places be of any actual benefit? “I know it is a symbolic gesture. But once all the names are changed, we will also focus on the other issues,” he said.
