Bihar education minister Chandrashekhar Yadav on Tuesday stirred political controversy by claiming that acclaimed Hindu-Brahmanical book Ramcharitmanas spreads hatred against lower and backward castes and women.
While addressing the 15th convocation ceremony of the Nalanda University, he said that revered Hindu texts like Manusmriti and Ramcharitmanas are against education of Dalits, backward classes and women.
“Why was there was resistance to the Ramcharitmanas? It says people from “Adham Jati” (lower castes) could be as dangerous as snakes after receiving education,” the minister said in presence of Bihar governor Phagu Chouhan.
He quoted the following verse from Ramcharitmanas to substantiate his claims-
हर कहुँ हरि सेवक गुर कहेऊ। सुनि खगनाथ हृदय मम दहेऊ॥ अधम जाति मैं बिद्या पाएँ। भयउँ जथा अहि दूध पिआएँ॥3॥ (Uttar Kand)
“This is the reason why people burnt Manusmriti and took exception to a portion of Ramcharitmanas, which talks against education for Dalits, backwards and women,” said Mr Chandrashekhar.
“Manusmriti, Ramcharitmanas, Bunch of Thoughts by saffron ideologue Guru Golwalkar spread hatred. Love, not hatred, makes the country great,” he added further.
His remarks drew a sharp criticism from the BJP, which said that this is all being done for the vote bank politics.
Ramcharitmanas is a famous Hindu-Brahmanical religious book in local Awadhi language. It was written by Tulsidas in 16th Century and is based on the ancient epic of Ramayana written in Sanskrit.
Critics of Ramcharitmanas often cite another oft-quoted verse from the book that allegedly justifies the beating of drum, idiots, lower-castes, animals and women.
ढोल गवांर शूद्र पशु नारी, सकल ताड़ना के अधिकारी
Later, the education minister defended his claims saying Ramcharitmanas was opposed because it propagates discrimination again lower castes.
On whether he would apologise for his statement as demanded by BJP, he said that they should apologise for not being aware of facts.
When a Brahmanical Saint of Ayodhya announced a 10 crore bounty for cutting his tongue, the minister defiantly said that “let them cut my tongue, at least someone will become reach”.
Meanwhile Bihar RJD president Jagadanand Singh has come out in support of Chandrashekhar saying that he has the backing of entire RJD family adding that “Mandal Politics (involving the bahujan-backward classes) will never be defeated by Kamandal (a metaphor for Hindutva upper-caste politics).
A few days back, he had sparked a similar controversy when he said that Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is being built on ‘nafrat ki zameen’.
RJD alliance partner JDU, however, condemned his statement and urged him to take it back.
Earlier this month, Kerala Minister and Communist leader MB Rajesh made a similar statement about Manusmriti claiming that it advocates a ‘cruel’ caste system.
Speaking at a program of Varkala Sivagiri Mutt, Mr Rajesh had said, “If Kerala has an acharya, it’s Sree Narayana guru and not Adi Shankaracharya.”
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जगतगुरु रामभद्राचार्य कह रहे है कि "गोस्वामी ने कहा है कि जो राम को नहीं भजता वो चमार है" वीडियो सोशल मीडिया पर वायरल है #viral #castism pic.twitter.com/9xLztKNMSu
— Dalit Times | दलित टाइम्स (@DalitTime) January 8, 2024
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