Ambala: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Saturday hit back at former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi for the latter's comments on Lord Ram. Manjhi, on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti in Bihar's Jamui district, said that he did not believe in the existence of Lord Ram, further, adding that Tulsidas and Valmiki had created Ram in their holy texts in order to spread messages.
"People like Jitan Ram Manjhi don't know India's history or its culture. He is a liability for all. Lord Ram is situated in the hearts and minds of a huge number of people. In a country like India, where there are so many Hindus, such a statement is disrespectful to everyone," Vij said while speaking to ETV Bharat.
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"I do not believe in Ram. He was not God. Tulsidas Ji and Valmiki Ji created the character of Ram in order to spread their messages through these holy texts. I respect the texts, I respect Tulsidas and Valmiki, but I do not believe in Ram," Manjhi, chief of HAM (Hindustan Awam Party) and former Bihar CM, had said during the event. Manjhi, who is an ally inside the ruling NDA alliance in Bihar, built primarily between BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party JD(U), has four MLAs right now in the Bihar legislative assembly.
Speaking about the ongoing loudspeaker issue and the Ram Navami clashes across the country, Vij asserted that the government was in fact 'secular', and was focused on having the same rules apply to everyone. He noted, however, that there existed specific regulations on the decibel level and timings of loudspeakers being operated.
