Amid the ongoing Sanatan Dharma row, Education Minister in the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government Chandra Shekhar has stoked a fresh controversy by drawing a parallel between pernicious 'potassium cyanide' and ancient scriptures like the Ramcharitmanas.
Chandra Shekhar, the Minister and also an RJD leader, made the remarks while addressing an event on the occasion of Hindi Diwas on Thursday (September 14), the video of which went viral on social media.
“It is not just my view but even great Hindi writer Nagarjuna and socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia have said that the Ramcharitmanas contains many regressive thoughts. There are many great things in scriptures, but if at a feast 55 dishes are served with a sprinkling of potassium cyanide, the food is rendered unfit for consumption, will you eat it? So my objection is there and will be there for the rest of my life.,” asserted the Minister whose similar remarks had stirred a controversy earlier this year.
The RJD leader alleged that his remarks regarding caste discrimination have evoked abuse and nobody had any problems when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat expressed similar concerns.
How allies and BJP reacted
The Minister drew flak from ally JDU and rival BJP while his own party RJD sought to distance itself from his remarks.
BJP media panelist Neeraj Kumar alleged that the Minister has insulted the Sanatan Dharma, and asked why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is silent on the matter.
"The education minister has insulted the great Sanatana Dharma which includes within its fold progressive figures like Sant Ravidas and Swami Vivekananda. We want to know why Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is silent on the diatribe", he said.
Abhishek Jha, state spokesman of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U), said, “The Constitution entails that all faiths are to be accorded equal respect. Some people say things with no apparent purpose other than getting some limelight, which we disapprove of.”
RJD distanced itself from the remarks.
RJD spokesman Shakti Yadav also issued a statement saying "It is true that our party stands for social justice but it also stands for respecting all religions. Any utterances which can hurt religious sentiments must be strictly avoided".
Bihar Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Vijay Sinha called the Minister’s remarks “mental perversion”.
,"...Where is it written in the Constitution that secularism means abusing your own religion...This is mental perversion..." he said.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai hit out at the Minister and said that his remarks is a reflection of the party’s “sick and appeasement mentality”.
“I would suggest keeping one Guru, reading each line of Ramayan and understanding the essence of each word and then commenting on Ramayan-Mahabharat...They should not say such things...This represents their sick mentality...This represents an appeasement mentality...Mahabharat and Ramayan are not cyanide...Appeasement, corruption, and governments giving refuge to criminals are cyanide,” he said.
The controversy erupted days after DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi stoked a controversy by stating that Sanatan Dharma is like a dengue and malaria which needs to be eradicated.
(With inputs from agencies)
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