Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sharad Pawar faction, leader Jitendra Awhad on Wednesday found himself in soup over his comment that “Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian”. He later apologised for his comments.
However, Awhad, who mentioned that he “doesn’t speak without research”, stated that the Hindu epic Ramayana mentions what he said.
At an event in Maharashtra’s Shirdi, Awhad claimed that Lord Ram belonged to the ‘Bahujans’ (people in majority) and was a non-vegetarian, contrary to common belief.
This came a day after BJP MLA Ram Kadam urged the Maharashtra government for a one-day ban on alcohol and meat on the Ram Temple consecration ceremony day on January 22.
“Ram is ours. Ram belongs to the Bahujans. Ram who hunts and eats is ours, we belong to the Bahujans. When you people go to make us all vegetarian, we follow the ideals of Ram and today we eat mutton. This is the ideal of Ram.
Ram was not a vegetarian, he was a non-vegetarian,” Awhad said while addressing an event, ANI reported.
Referring to the years’ Lord Ram spent in the forests, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana, Awhad asked, “Where would a person living in the forest for 14 years go to find vegetarian food? Is it correct or not (question to the public)? Tell me when I am telling the truth.”
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Rubbishing his statement, Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said, “What NCP leader Jitendra Awhad is speaking is completely false. It isn’t written anywhere in our scriptures that Lord Ram had non-vegetarian food during his exile. It’s written that he used to have fruits…Such a liar has no right to insult our Lord Ram…Our God was always vegetarian…He is speaking demeaning words to insult our Lord Ram…”
Awhad further added fuel to the fire by saying, “No matter what someone says, the truth is that we got independence only because of Gandhi and Nehru. Gandhiji was not assassinated in 1947, but the first attack on him took place in 1935, the second attack took place in 1938, and the third attack took place in 1942.”
“After all, why did they attack him so many times? He didn’t care about time, he didn’t even care about the Constitution. But he was attacked because Gandhiji was a tradesman and an OBC. The fact that the leader (Gandhi) of such a big independence movement was an OBC was not acceptable to them (RSS),” he added, ANI reported.
The NCP leader went on to claim that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination was rooted in casteism while criticising a lack of historical awareness among the public. “The real reason behind Gandhiji’s assassination was casteism. You people do not read this history and do not keep it in your mind,” he said.
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The comment, which comes ahead of the grand consecration of the new Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya later this month, has sparked a massive controversy, with some seeking action against him for hurting religious sentiments.
BJP hits back
BJP MLA Ram Kadam hit back at Jitendra Awhad over his controversial remarks claiming that the genuine concerns of Hindus and Marathi people are overlooked. Kadam on Thursday filed a complaint to register an FIR against the NCP leader.
“If late Balasaheb were alive today, today’s Saamana newspaper would have spoken harshly to those who called Lord Ram a non-vegetarian,” Kadam said in a post on X.
“But what is the reality today, anyone can say anything about Lord Ram, anyone can make fun of Hindus. They don’t care. They are as cold as ice. But when the turn of elections comes, they will talk about Hindutva by gathering false power,” he added.
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He further alleged that politicians are more interested in “cheap politics for vote”.
“The reality is this. no one cares about Hindus or Marathi people. They have no affection for anyone. They only want to do cheap politics of votes, that’s it,” the BJP MLA stated in his post.
(With inputs from ANI)