The Bihar Education Minister has come under the fire of BJP, RSS and Right-wing organizations following his remarks on Ramacharitmanas on Wednesday during the convocation ceremony of Nalanda Open University.
JD(U) supremo and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that he will speak to his cabinet colleague and senior RJD leader, Chandrasekhar, whose recent remarks about the epic poem 'Ramcharitmanas' has sparked a controversy. Kumar's response came during a media interaction in the Darbhanga district of the state, which he visited under his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'.
"I don't know about the matter. But I will enquire (humko pata nahin hai. Hum poochh lenge unse)," he curtly replied to the journalists.
Chandrashekhar, who holds the education portfolio, had commented on 'Ramcharitmanas', arguably the most popular version of the Ramayana penned by medieval saint Goswami Tulsidas, at the convocation ceremony of Nalanda Open University on Wednesday. Later, when accosted by reporters, he had dug in his heels and said "Manu Smriti, Ramcharitmanas and Bunch of Thoughts (written by RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar) have promoted hatred in the society. A reason why these (works) face opposition from Dalits and OBCs".
BJP, of which RSS is the ideological arm, has predictably expressed anger over the statement. The party's state unit spokesman and national general secretary Nikhil Anand came out with a statement accusing the RJD leader of having hurt Hindu sentiments with "appeasement of Muslims in mind".
BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, who is fast emerging as Bihar's Hindutva poster boy, asked the RJD leader to "Show he is man enough by being as outspoken about Islam". The RJD leader also received a thumbs down from Chirag Paswan, who seeks to carry forward his late father Ram Vilas Paswan's political legacy while aligning with the BJP. Terming the statement by Chandrasekhar as "incendiary"(inciting), Paswan blamed it on the "divisive tactics" of Nitish Kumar, his bete noire. He also asserted that the ruling Mahagathbandhan in the state will pay the price for "hurting popular sentiments" in the state election.
Meanwhile, when journalists approached Chandrashekhar again, despite repeated attacks from the right groups and BJP, the minister didn't change his stance and declared he will seek "expunction from the Ramcharitmanas all verses that condone social discrimination".
(With PTI inputs)