New Delhi: Maharashtra leader Jitendra Awhad’s comment that Lord Ram was never a vegetarian as he couldn’t live in the jungle for 14 years being a vegetarian has sparked a major controversy in the state.
The comment came amid the BJP’s demand that January 22, the consecration day of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya be declared as a dry day and a day on which all non-vegetarian food should be banned.
The Nationalist Congress Party MLA (Sharad Pawar faction) said Lord Ram was a Bahujan and a non-vegetarian and was a hunter. “We don’t read history and forget everything in politics. Ram is ours. Of us Bahujans. Who used to hunt to eat… Ram was never a vegetarian. He was a non-vegetarian. How can a man who lived in the jungle for 14 years remain a vegetarian,” Jitendra Awhad said.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam said had Balasaheb Thackeray been alive, Shiv Sena’s Saamana newspaper would have criticised the ‘Ram non-vegetarian’ comment. “But today’s reality is they (Uddhav Sena) do not care if somebody makes fun of the Hindus. They are indifferent, as cold as ice. But when the election comes, they will talk about Hindutva..” Ram Kadam tweeted on Thursday.
Ram Kadam wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde demanding January 22 be declared as a dry day and a veg day.
“What is the controversy that what did Lord Ram eat? Someone will claim Lord Ram used to eat methi-bhaji (fenugreek leaves fritters) There was no rice at that time. Lord Ram was a Kshatriya and Kshatriyas are non-vegetarians. I absolutely stand by what I said. 80% of India’s population are non-vegetarians, they are also devotees of Lord Ram,” Jitendra Awhad said reacting to the controversy.
Condemning Awhad’s statement, Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das said it’s written in scriptures that Lord Ram used to have fruits during exile. “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…” the priest said, according to Hindustan Times.
