Several religious leaders stormed off the stage at Jamiat Ulama-I-34th Hind's General Session after the organization's President, Syed Arshad Madani, delivered a contentious speech, news agency ANI reported.
Madani's statements irritated Jain Muni, Acharya Lokesh Muni, who was also present on stage. "We only agree with living in harmony, but all the story regarding, Om, Allah, and Manu is all rubbish. He (Madani) completely spoiled the atmosphere of the session," Jain Muni was quoted by ANI in its report.
"The stories he said, I can narrate even bigger stories than that. I would even request him (Madani) to come for a discussion with me, or even I can come to meet him in Saharanpur," he said.
He added by saying, "It should be remembered that the first Jain Tirthankar was Rishabh, and his sons were Bharata and Bahubali, on whose name this country 'Bharat' was named. You can't erase this. We don't agree with those statements."
Earlier in the day, Syed Arshad Madani, President of Jamiat Ulama I Hind, stirred outrage when he "asked the Dharma Gurus that since there was no one, neither Shri Ram nor Brahma nor Shiva, then whom did Manu worship?"
He added, "Some told me that they used to worship 'Om'. I said that it is the 'Om' only, that we refer to as Allah, those speaking Farsi refer as 'Khuda' and those speaking English refer as 'God'."
"This means that there is only one Om or Allah, and both are same, and it is the only thing Manu used to worship. There was no Shiv, no Brahma, but only one Om and Allah that was worshipped," Madani was quoted by ANI in its report.
Speaking at the session, Madani stated: "Hindus and Muslims have been living in the country like brothers for around 1400 years, and we have never forcedly converted anyone into Islam."
"It is only under the BJP government that we heard that 20 crore Muslims should be sent home. By sending them home, they meant converting them to Hindus. These people don't know anything about India's history," he added.
(With Inputs From ANI)