Ram Mandir chief priest on Thursday slammed NCP leader Dr Jitendra Awhad’s comments on Lord Ram being a non-vegetarian and said the claims were “totally false”.
Responding to the comments, Shri Ram Janambhoomi Teerth Kshetra chief priest Acharya Satyendra Das told ANI, “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."
Dr Jitendra Awhad, NCP-Sharad Pawar faction leader on Wednesday sparked a row by saying, "Lord Ram was not a vegetarian, he was a non-vegetarian. Where would a person living in the forest for 14 years go to find vegetarian food? Is it correct or not (question to the public)?,” ANI reported.
ANI quoted Awhad as saying, "Ram is ours. Ram belongs to the Bahujans. Ram who hunts and eats is ours, we belong to the Bahujans. When you people go to make us all vegetarian, we follow the ideals of Ram and today we eat mutton. This is the ideal of Ram. Ram was not a vegetarian, he was a non-vegetarian." The NCP leader made the comments while addressing an event in Shirdi on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, BJP members protested at various parts of Maharashtra on Thursday condemning Awhad’s comments. BJP leader Ram Kadam filed a complaint with Maharashtra police on Thursday. Kadam told ANI, "Their mindset is to hurt the sentiments of the Ram bhakts. They can't make fun of the Hindu religion to gather votes. The fact that Ram mandir has been built has not gown down well with the 'ghamandi' alliance."
