: Former IAS officer R. Christodas Gandhi on Thursday tendered an apology after his remarks on a television debate that in a secular country one even had a right to slipper Lord Ram drew strong condemnation and abuses from certain sections.
On Tuesday, while participating in a debate on a Tamil television channel over the propriety of Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi participating in a Ram Leela celebration and raising the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’, Mr. Gandhi made the remarks which triggered a personal attack from fellow panellist and BJP state secretary K.T. Raghavan. The latter accused the former civil servant of hurting Hindu sentiments and claimed that Mr. Gandhi belonged to a different religious faith.
While the anchor of the show disapproved of both remarks, a day later, a Hindu Munnani functionary in Namakkal filed a police complaint seeking action against Mr. Gandhi for hurting religious sentiments. Meanwhile, unidentified persons circulated Mr. Gandhi’s house address and phone number on social media and mobile messaging platforms and urged Hindus to condemn him. Following this, Mr. Gandhi received numerous messages and phone calls which were allegedly abusive in nature.
Clarifying his stand, Mr. Gandhi in a statement said, “All that I mentioned in the debate was that, in a secular country, atheists also have a place to express an opinion. And beyond that I don’t recall making any references to any deity or personality. In the interest of public peace, I have no hesitation in offering public apology.”
‘Apologise on air’
Reacting to Mr. Gandhi’s clarification, Mr. Raghavan said that it was not acceptable to say that “I don’t recall making any references to a deity or personality.”
Mr. Raghavan also criticised the Periyarite groups for their “selective atheism”. He said that “the days of hurting religious sentiments of the Hindus in the name of secularism are long gone. No religion must be insulted. Let him apologise on air.”
However, Dravidar Kazhagam propaganda secretary Arul Mozhi contended, “That people have beliefs is a fact, but the belief itself need not be accepted as fact. While Lord Ram is revered as a God by many in India, Ravana and Thamboogan, who was beheaded by Rama in Ramayana, is also revered. So, are the Hindus who celebrate Ram Leela not hurting the sentiments of Hindus who worship Ravana?” she asked.
Ms. Arul Mozhi said the DK would continue to criticise Lord Rama as long as Ram Leela is celebrated.
