A group of sadhus and saints staged a protest and burnt the effigy of Bihar Education Minister Chandrasekhar against his remarks on 'Ramcharitmanas' in Ayodhya on Friday.
The saints garlanded the effigy with shoes and slippers and then set it on fire. They also demanded the Bihar Education Minister be sacked for his remark.
"We want to give the message to Nitish Kumar that the Bihar government should sack the minister as soon as possible and take proper action against him," the protestors shouted.
They said that they have lodged formal police complaints against the minister. "Today we have burnt the effigy, tomorrow we will do something else," the saints said.
"Insulting Ramcharitmanas is like insulting our mother. We will go to any extent against anyone insulting the Sanatan culture. We will not tolerate this," they said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bihar Education Minister sparked off a controversy by saying that the Hindu epic religious book, which is based on Ramayana, "spreads hatred in the society".
He was addressing the students at the 15th convocation ceremony of Nalanda Open University, he described Ramcharitmanas and Manusmriti as books that divide society.
During the event, he said that Manusmriti and Ramcharitmanas are books that spread hatred in society as it prevents Dalits-backwards and women in society from getting an education.
"Manusmriti, Ramcharitmanas, Bunch of Thoughts by Guru Golwalkar... these books are books that spread hatred. Hatred will not make the country great, love will make the country great," added Chandrashekhar.
( With inputs from ANI )
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