Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday said he will speak to his Cabinet colleague Chandrasekhar, a senior RJD leader, whose recent remarks about Tulsidas's epic poem 'Ramcharitmanas' has raised a controversy.
The JD(U) supremo was replying to queries from journalists in Darbhanga district which he visited as part of his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'.
"I don't know about the matter. But I will enquire," was Kumar's curt reply.
Chandrashekhar, who holds the education portfolio, had commented on 'Ramcharitmanas', the 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 stuck to his point of view 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".
The Minister said he will seek "expunction from the Ramcharitmanas all verses that condone social discrimination".
The BJP and the Congress have expressed anger over the statement and sought the Minister’s ouster and an apology from Nitish. The BJP'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"(bhadkaau), Paswan blamed it on the "divisive tactics" of Nitish Kumar, his bete noire.
The BJP slammed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the controversial remarks alleging that his government has been hurting Hindu sentiments and wondering if the minister will dare to make similar comments on holy books of other religions.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad lashed said, "Why is Nitish Kumar silent? He should answer. The country will not tolerate if Lord Ram is disrespected. He should take his (minister) resignation and apologise for hurting the country's sentiments."
The Congress, which is an ally in the Bihar government, also criticised the minister, calling his remarks absolutely "unacceptable".
"Any scripture is a reflection and the product of the times from which that scripture comes. Such remarks are absolutely unacceptable to the Congress Party," party spokesperson Pawan Khera said.