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- Published: January 4, 2024 15:17
New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad is in the eye of storm over his controversial remarks on Lord Ram. The NCP leader raised the hackles of many ‘rambhakts’ as well as saffron outfits after he claimed that Lord Ram was a ‘non-vegetarian’.
The Mumbra-Kalwa MLA stirred a major row as he told mediapersons on Wednesday that Lord Ram lived in jungles for 14 years and during this period he ‘consumed meat’.
निंदनीय और शर्मनाक!
NCP (शरद गुट) के विधायक जितेंद्र आव्हाड के प्रभु श्री राम को मांसाहारी बताने वाले शर्मनाक बयान से यह स्पष्ट समझ आ रहा है कि I.N.D.I. गठबंधन की सोच कैसी है!#shameful pic.twitter.com/Vb8A5N2vo2
— Satyadev Pachauri (@sdPachauri1) January 4, 2024
Netizens lash out at NCP leader
Besides political backlash, Jitendra Awhad also drew the ire of many netizens as many found his comments disparaging & offending. They dubbed Awhad as ‘Ramdrohi’ and said that such derogatory reference to Lord Ram showed their frustration & bigoted mindset on Ram Temple.
Lot many netizens took potshots at the NCP leader under hashtag #ArrestJitendraAwhad.
How can someone use such derogatory words for Bhagwan Shri Ram? They are in frustration due to #AyodhyaRamMandir. I request Maharashtra government to arrest him asap 🙏🏻#ArrestJitendraAwhad pic.twitter.com/iDDBQZPFfm
— 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐫 🇮🇳 (@ellyse_kaur) January 4, 2024
मैं मनोज कुमार महाराष्ट्र सरकार से इस रामद्रोही JITENDRA AWHAD को तुरंत गिरफ्तार करने की मांग कर रहा हूं।
Support & RP#ArrestJitendraAwhad pic.twitter.com/6ITURatvCP
— Manoj Kumar 🕉️🇮🇳 (@manoj_begu) January 4, 2024
TREND ALERT 😡#ArrestJitendraAwhadhttps://t.co/letSHn6mwa pic.twitter.com/lM2nKcDHkk
— Yogi Devnath 🇮🇳 (@MYogiDevnath) January 3, 2024
Ahwad claimed that Lord Rama was Bahujan and a non-vegetarian. He made these remarks at an event in Maharashtra’s Shirdi.
“Lord Ram belongs to us, Bahujans. He used to hunt and eat animals. He is a Bahujan. Lord Ram was not a vegetarian, he was a non-vegetarian. A person who lived in forest for 14 years – where will he go to find vegetarian food?” Awhad said.
The ‘offending’ remarks by NCP leader, belonging to Sharad Pawar faction, comes at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing for declaration of January 22 (Ram temple consecration) as a day of piousness, when liquor & meats are banned across the country.
What Ahwad said, BJP livid over ‘insult to Ram’
Maharashtra BJP took strong objection to NCP leader’s outlandish statement on Lord Ram and demanded action from Eknath Shinde government. A large numbers of NCP workers from Ajit Pawar faction also protested outside his resident and shouted slogans, last night.
Maharashtra BJP leader Ram Kadam filed complaint with police over Awhad’s insulting remarks.
#WATCH मुंबई: भाजपा नेता राम कदम ने कहा, “…पुलिस ने हमें आश्वस्त किया है कि वीडियो फुटेज की जांच करके उनके(जितेंद्र आव्हाड) खिलाफ कड़ी से कड़ी कार्रवाई की जाएगी… ये प्रभु राम चंद्र जी के दिए गए आदर्शों पर चलने वाली सरकार है… महाराष्ट्र की भूमि पर हम किसी को भी देवी-देवताओं… https://t.co/TvHxjfRWtV pic.twitter.com/klnsEbpwBG
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) January 4, 2024
He also wrote to Maharashtra CM to declare January 22 as a day of renunciation of liquor & meat in the state.
Ahwad’s apology after protests
Finding himself on the backfoot, the NCP leader initially tried to defend himself and said that he doesn’t speak anything without research.
He however expressed regret over his remarks and said that he didn’t want to hurt religious sentiments of any community.
Priest’s counter to Awhad
Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest, Acharya Satyendra Das refuted his claims and 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.”