The controversy over Ramacharitmanas refuses to die down in Bihar. RJD MLA from Danapur assembly seat Ritlal Yadav stirred a fresh controversy with his remark that “Ramcharitmanas was written in a mosque”.
Barely a few months ago, RJD MLA from Madhepura and state Education Minister Chandrashekhar had kicked off a controversy alleging that the epic spreads hatred in society. RJD’s main ally Janata Dal-United (JDU) leaders have already distanced themselves from the controversial remarks.
The RJD MLA, while criticising BJP, said, “Ramcharitmanas was written sitting in a mosque, but back then Hindutva was not in danger.”
He further said Sanatanis were rendered speechless when an 11-year-old Muslim girl recited Bhagavad Gita and won a medal.
Leaders of Bihar’s main Opposition BJP are incensed by the RJD MLA’s remarks. Former deputy CM and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil K Modi, questioning his credentials in the matter, said that the said “RJD MLA who is facing dozens of criminal cases is talking about Ramacharitmanas. I don’t know about his academic qualifications. How much he knows about the epic”.
BJP’s state president Samrat Chaudhary, however, refused to comment on the RJD MLA dismissing his remarks on the epic as absurd unworthy of a comment.
Former MLA from Danapur Asha Devi, along with her supporters and some priests, has started reciting portions of Ramcharitmanas “Sunder kaand” in protest against the RJD MLA’s remarks.
A few months back, state Education Minister Chandrashekhar had created a nationwide controversy with his remark on Ramcharitmanas saying “it spreads hatred in society”. The minister made the statement while addressing a convocation ceremony of the Nalanda Open University.
He also said that “books like Ramcharitmanas, Manusmriti and Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts created a social divide”.
According to political observers, the RJD MLA’s track record is doubtful as he was facing some serious criminal charges. Though he is supposed to be popular among the voters, his “terror” in the region is well known.