On Thursday, former AAP leader and poet Kumar Vishwas called on the Bihar government to fire Education Minister Chandrashekhar for making a “indecent” statement about the Ramcharitmanas. The Bihar minister stirred up controversy on Wednesday by asserting that the ancient Hindu holy work Ramcharitmanas, which is based on the Ramayana, “spreads enmity in the society.”

 

Chandrashekhar used derogatory language. Vishwas stated at the Udaipur airport that Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav should remove such ministers from their administration and cabinet. “Can the minister say this for any other religion? He does not have the knowledge of Ramcharitmanas,” Vishwas added. At the 15th convocation of the Nalanda Open University, Chandrashekhar spoke to the students and referred to the Ramcharitmanas and the Manusmriti as socially divisive texts.

“Why was Manusmriti burnt, because many abuses were given in it against a large section. Why was Ramcharitmanas resisted and which part was resisted? Lower caste people were not allowed to access education and it is said in the Ramcharitmanas that lower caste people become poisonous by getting an education as a snake becomes after drinking milk.”

Manusmriti and the Ramcharitmanas, according to him, are hate-inspiring books because they prevent women and Dalits from obtaining an education. He also claims that they are books that promote prejudice in society. These books, including Manusmriti, Ramcharitmanas, and Guru Golwalkar’s Bunch of Thoughts, promote hatred. The country will become great through love, not through hatred, Chandrashekhar continued.