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R N Upadhyaya, the secretary (home) of the Uttar Pradesh government, on Wednesday stirred a row after he brushed off a reporter's query about the death of four members of a family by saying, "Birth is the reason behind the death".
During a briefing, when reporters asked Upadhyaya about the motive behind the Sonbhadra incident, in which a man committed suicide allegedly after killing his three children over a family discord on Tuesday night, he quoted an incident related to Gautam Buddha and laughed loudly.
Taking the matter seriously, the UP government removed Upadhyaya from the post and put him on the wait list.
In reply to the reporter's query, the secretary had said, "Once Buddha asked what was the cause of death. One person replied old age, after which he replied that even young people die”.
"Then people asked Buddha about the reason and he said birth," he said.
"Janm hi mrityu ka kaaran hai, aur aap pooch rahein hai mrityu ka kaaran kya hai(Birth is the reason behind death and you people are asking for the reason behind death)," he said and laughed out loudly.
"Upadhyaya has been transferred and put on the wait list," an official spokesman said.