Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Jitendra Awhad’s remarks that Lord Ram was “a non-vegetarian” sparked a furore, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday lodging a complaint against Mr. Awhad even as the NCP leader expressed regret for hurting sentiments.
Mr. Awhad, a three-term MLA from Thane’s Mumbra-Kalwa constituency, had claimed that Lord Ram belonged to the ‘bahujans’ and was a non-vegetarian contrary to popular belief.
Speaking during his party’s conclave in Shirdi on Wednesday, Mr. Awhad had said “Lord Ram is ours. He belongs to the bahujans. The Ram who hunts and eats is ours, we belong to the bahujans. We follow the ideals of Ram and today we eat mutton.”
Mr. Awhad’s remarks drew severe flak from the BJP, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and a number of Ayodhya seers with BJP workers beating effigies of the NCP leader in Pune and Mumbai while the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena demonstrating in Nashik.
Despite Mr. Awhad clarifying he had never distorted history, his remarks also drew sharp criticism from his own party colleague Rohit Pawar, who is NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam, who spearheaded the attack against Mr. Awhad, lodged a complaint against him at the Ghatkopar police station while BJP Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said Awhad’s statements were calculated to spread social divisiveness.
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“It is his [Mr. Awhad’s] modus operandi, his way of playing politics by mocking Hinduism and appeasing one particular community [alluding to the Muslim community]. Because of his insensitive statements, he has hurt the sentiments of crores of devotees, sadhus. He keeps making fun of Hindu faith. Why are Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray now silent?” said Mr. Kadam, warning that Mr. Awhad would be compelled to seek an apology for his statements.
He alleged that Mr. Awhad’s remarks, coming ahead of the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya on January 22, were deliberately made to offend Hindu sentiments and appease his constituents in Mumbra, a Muslim-dominated area.
“This is all pre-planned. At a time when crores of Ram bhakts are happy that the Ram Temple has finally become a reality, this arrogant INDIA alliance with its leaders like Awhad, Sharad Pawar, Rahul Gandhi and Uddhav Thackeray are upset,” Mr. Kadam said.
Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest, Acharya Satyendra Das, strongly refuted the claims, calling them utterly “false.”
“What NCP leader Jitendra Awhad is speaking is completely false. Such a liar has no right to insult our Lord Ram. It is not written anywhere in our scriptures that Lord Ram had non-vegetarian food during his exile but that he used to have fruits. Our God was always vegetarian. He is speaking demeaning words to insult our God,” said the priest.
Even as he expressed regret for unintentionally hurting sentiments, Mr. Awhad hit back at the BJP saying the saffron party only used Lord Ram for the purposes of winning elections.
“Our Ram is the one who went to exile for 14 years, and did not hunger for power. Our Lord Ram never understood caste distinctions. That Ram resides in our hearts. You [the BJP] want to get your Ram in the market only for the sake of elections,” said Mr. Awhad, speaking today.
Stating that he had no wish to further the controversy, Mr. Awhad said he never misused or distorted history and always spoke after studying any matter in-depth.
“Yesterday, I made those remarks while in flow during my speech… but I do not make any statement without having studied the matter in-depth or with appropriate references. If someone has been hurt by my remarks, I express regret. But if you want to speak logically to me, I am there for debate. The BJP does not want to fight logically,” said the NCP leader.
He alluded the basis for his remarks (that Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian) to the 1891 translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana by M.N. Dutt besides other sources.
Taking aim at the BJP for not inviting President Droupadi Murmu for the consecration ceremony, Mr. Awhad said, “The BJP does not own Lord Ram… They did not invite President Droupadi Murmu as she is an Adivasi by lineage, but kept her locked-up.”
Meanwhile, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Rohit Pawar ticked-off his party colleague for politicising religion and provoking needless controversy rather than attacking the government on issues that really mattered.
“Today, there is more need to accost the government by talking about burning issues like rising unemployment, deteriorating law and order, women’s safety, agricultural problems and social tensions rather than provoking controversy on such topics. God and religion is a matter of personal faith… no one should politicise it,” Rohit Pawar said.
In response, Mr. Awhad said, “I do not want to speak about Rohit Pawar. He is still young and just a first-term MLA.”
