Ram indulged in drinking and also killed a Shudra sitting in penance, says Kannada author; BJP wants action 

Ruling BJP in Karnataka and host of people associated with the far right groups have slammed Kannada writer Kallahalli Sannegowda Bhagawan’s remarks on Lord Ram with several complaints filed against the scholar.

Bhagawan on Friday made remarks against Hindu god Ram and Sita quoting the Uttara Kaand of Valmiki Ramayan and gave inferences that Ram indulged in drinking and also killed a Shudra sitting in penance.

“He chopped off the head of Shambuka, a Shudra, who was sitting in penance under a tree. How can he be ideal?” said Bhagwan further, also a scholar and rationalist.

Addressing a gathering in Karnataka’s Mandya, ANI reported Bhagawan as saying, “There is talk about building a Rama Rajya…If one reads the Uttara Kanda of Valmiki’s Ramayana, it will become evident that (Lord) Ram was not ideal. He did not rule for 11,000 years, but only for 11 years…Ram would sit with Sita in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day drinking…He sent his wife Sita into the forest and didn’t bother about her.”

Several complaints were filed against him, including by the Karanataka BJP leader N Ravi Kumar over his book. The BJP government had dropped the book, which opposed the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, from all public libraries run by the state in Karnataka. The writer had said that according to Valmiki Ramayan, Lord Ram drank ‘intoxicants’ and also made Sita consume them, wrote Outlook.

Vishwa Hindu Parshad (VHP) Spokesperson Vinod Bansal said that Bhagawan is no intellectual but an enemy to intellectuals. Speaking to a private television news channel, the BJP leader said that those who commit evils themselves will only believe that the Gods will do the same.

“Society is slowly boycotting them (intellectuals) and soon these people will become outdated. The secular brigade born from Congress pushed these types of people to the top. They made them anti-Hindu and launched them in the market. No clarification should be given to these types of people on who Ram and Sita are. These are evil people who are not coming out of the evil mindset and are continuously ‘attacking the Hindu religion’,” he added.

While several complaints have already been filed against Bhagawan as per several media reports, Karnataka BJP leader Vivek Reddy has requested the government to take “serious action” against Bhagwan and put him behind the bars, according to Outlook.

“If this had happened in any other county, what he would have faced, would be something very different. India is a very tolerant country, but we can’t tolerate the shaming of our gods. there is a limit to everything”, Reddy remarked.

Bhagawan, 77, is an award-winning Kannada writer. He has worked on Hinduism, Indian culture, and history, and has translated the works of William Shakespeare. He is also not new to controversies as he drew attacks, bans, and controversies with the 2018 book Rama Mandira Yake Beda (Why we do not need the Ram Temple).