New Delhi: Former CBI additional director and retired IPS officer M. Nageswara Rao’s statement calling activist Swami Agnivesh’s death a “good riddance” has invited flak for him and triggered outrage on social media.
On Friday night, just hours after Agnivesh’s death, Rao put out a tweet saying he was an “anti-Hindu donning saffron clothes”.
GOOD RIDDANCE @swamiagnivesh
You were an Anti-Hindu donning saffron clothes.
You did enormous damage to Hinduism.
I am ashamed that you were born as a Telugu Brahmin.
మేక వన్నె పులి
गोमुख व्याग्रं
Lion in sheep clothes
My grievance against Yamaraj is why did he wait this long! https://t.co/5g7oKL62pO
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (@MNageswarRaoIPS) September 11, 2020
“My grievance against Yamaraj is why did he wait this long,” he further wrote.
Agnivesh, 80, died at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi Friday evening after a multiple-organ failure and a cardiac arrest.
As the founder-chairperson of the Bandhua Mukti Morcha (Bonded Labour Liberation Front), Agnivesh gained recognition across the country and the globe for his efforts to end bonded labour.
He was also a vocal opponent of communal politics and implored people to “unitedly fight communal forces”.
Also read: IPS Nageshwar Rao who lost his job as interim CBI chief had these corruption complaints
Rao slammed
Many on Twitter called out Rao for spreading “hate” and for misrepresenting Hinduism.
@RahulEaswar Ji
Hinduism is NOT Faith. It's Dharma. Faith is blind belief &Hinduism is against it. Critical Inquiry informs Dharma.
Vishnu took 9 avatars so far to kill Adharmics, which we celebrate as festivals. Are these festivals Hate Virus?
Are U follower of @swamiagnivesh? https://t.co/e57L4diWGT
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (@MNageswarRaoIPS) September 11, 2020
Activist Rahul Easwar reacted to Rao’s tweet saying: “May Bhagwan Krishna save #Hindu & #Hindustan from #Hate Virus.”
Historian Irfan Habib called out Rao and questioned what he would have done “as a police officer”.
You are a disgrace. Can imagine what all you must have done as a police officer? Abusing the dead may be Hindutva but is certainly not Hinduism. Better late than never. Get yourself treated. https://t.co/Shh4zlmduc
— S lrfan Habib (@irfhabib) September 12, 2020
Many others such as lawyer Navdeep Singh pointed out that he was serving in the government until recently, “with such thoughts at the back of his mind”.
The tweet by this retired IPS officer goes against the very tenets of religion and basic humanity. To think that he was serving in the Govt and dealing with public with such thoughts at the back of his mind just a few days ago….
— Navdeep Singh (@SinghNavdeep) September 12, 2020
However, despite the backlash, Rao insisted that he wasn’t wrong.
Sorry. You're wrong. Nothing goes with death.
Deeds outlives doer.
As we praise good & good doer, likewise evil & evil doer have to condemned.We read Ramayan to praise good of Rama & to condemn bad of Ravana.
Many Hindu festivals are celebration of death demons. https://t.co/GJlK6qauYt
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (@MNageswarRaoIPS) September 12, 2020
Not the first time
This, however, is not the first time Rao has been in the eye of storm for his tweets.
In July this year, Rao had tweeted a series of graphics on the “story of Project Abrahamisation of Hindu Civilisation”.
Story of Project Abrahamisation of Hindu Civilization
1.Deny Hindus their knowledge
2.Vilify Hinduism as collection of superstitions
3.Abrahamise Education
4.Abrahamise Media & Entertainment
5.Shame Hindus about their identity
6.Bereft of glue of Hinduism Hindu society dies pic.twitter.com/VM4pLcKKXN
— M. Nageswara Rao IPS (@MNageswarRaoIPS) July 25, 2020
Many retired IPS officers had slammed Rao for his comments at the time.
Rao, a 1986-batch IPS officer, was shunted out as CBI’s additional director in July 2019 after spending one year in that post. He was then appointed as the General (DG) Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard, the tenure of which ended in July this year.
Rao was made the interim CBI chief in 2018 amid a spat between then Director General Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
Prior to that, Rao had a controversial career with several complaints of financial irregularities, influencing investigations and scuttling probes against him.
As ThePrint reported earlier, Rao has been accused of financial irregularities right from his time as the chief of fire service directorate in Bhubaneswar in 2016.
Some of the complaints against him included scuttling and influencing investigations within the CBI, misappropriation of funds while in office and his wife’s involvement in a shell company.
Also read: SC held ex-CBI interim chief M. Nageshwar Rao in contempt — and told him to sit in a corner
Agnivesh insulted and mocked hindu dhaarmik beliefs. He had mocked at amarnath, pashupatinath, sabrimala, tirupati, mahabharat and termed it as pakhand. He violated the constitutional freedom of religious beliefs of hindus in the guise of freedom of speech. If according to him hindus dhaarmik beliefs are fake and pakhand then should hindus stop worshipping their deities, should hindus borrow religious beliefs from abhrahmic religions. Did he mean to say that hindus belief are bakwaas and so they should give up such beliefs. By saying so didn’t he deny the freedom of religious beliefs to hindus provided under constitution. By insulting and mocking hindus religious beliefs what he wanted to achieve. His freedom of speech insulting hindus beliefs was just for sake of criticism or he wanted hindus to borrow religious beliefs or was it his agenda of proselytizing. What could be his intention,we need to look into it. Was he agent of conversion lobby to insult hindus beliefs so that hindus may give up their dharm. It seems to be so because when he had nothing to say about religious beliefs of abrahmic then it was certainly his agenda to facilitate conversion of hindus to abrahmic religions. Those who support his so-called freedom of speech and his so-called liberal views, are actually hindu haters. He and his ilk are the persons who had sown the seeds of hatred against hindus and they cant blame hindus for present so-called hate environment.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/agnivesh-does-a-volteface/article5948633.ece
Agnivesh ko Azaadi milgaya!!
I am so ashamed that such bigots headed the premier Indian investigating agency, CBI. Is he fit to be called an Indian?
Of all people , Irfan Habib , a rabid communalist and anti-Hindu historian, has the gumption to speak on this issue. This cabal of so called liberals has to be exposed at all levels, especially in front of our younger generation, so that further distortion of our history does not take place. Irfan Habib was at the forefront , under the Congress regimes at centre, when our true history was being hidden from us and a false narrative was being spread. Of course he will be pained at the comments made against so called ‘Swami’, who was worse than many Jehadis in denigrating the Hindus, Hinduism and Hindutva.
Kitna zulm kiya UPSC ne aise aadmi – insaan nahin keh sakte – ko chun kar. Let loose on the Indian public for a lifetime.
Rao’s comments are crass, disgraceful and in bad taste. He is also a disgrace to the IPS. Thanks to the posting of incompetent and corrupt officers like him, institutions like the CBI – once headed by the finest in the IPS – have now fallen into disrepute.