Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar on Wednesday triggered a massive row in the country when he called for the Ramcharitmanas to be burnt as it spreads hatred against the lower castes.
Ramcharitmanas is an epic poem in the Awadhi language which is based on the Ramayana, and composed by 16th-century Indian poet Tulsidas.
Speaking at the 15th convocation ceremony of the Nalanda Open University in Patna, Chandrashekhar said, "Tulsidas had written Ramcharitmanas... If this ideology is followed then the dream of making India powerful cannot be attained.
"It says that people from lower castes become dangerous after getting an education, like Snake after drinking milk."
Chandrashekhar went on to add: "Education and God is no one's slave...Pandits and others said that some castes are lower and don't touch or eat from them and so on.
But Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar became an excellent student and studied at Columbia University.
"Why was Manusmriti burnt? Because many abuses were given in it against a large section.
"Why was Ramcharitmanas resisted and which part was resisted?... This is a book that sows hatred," the RJD leader said.
