New Delhi: Panna Lal Shakya, a BJP legislator from Madhya Pradesh, sparked controversy Tuesday after he cited the example of Sita from the Ramayana to underline a point about coveting another’s wife.
More than what he was trying to convey, it was Shakya’s choice of words that did him in, for in describing Ravaana’s folly, he used the term maut ka samaan (cause of death) for Sita. He then waded deeper, going on to claim that only men have died in wars as described in the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, and capped it off by rejecting a timely intervention from a woman legislator sharing the stage with him.
Shakya, who represents Madhya Pradesh’s Guna Assembly seat, faced opposition over his comments from a woman legislator from his own party who was on the stage when the comment was made.
The incident took place Tuesday during the state-level Balaram Mahotsav in Guna, which comes under Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia’s Lok Sabha constituency. The Balaram Mahotsav was organized at the Nanakhedi Agricultural Produce Market in Guna.
Shakya, who has courted controversy with his comments in the past, cited several examples from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and other wars to claim that men were killed in these conflicts, while not a single woman died. Many can be heard laughing in a video of the incident.
“Many people tried to reason with Ravana, asking, ‘brother, why have you brought another man’s wife here?’ They tried to make him understand that this was a recipe for disaster (maut ka samaan)—a sure path to death—but he wouldn’t listen. Yet, look at that battle: not a single woman died; it was the men who perished—all the men died, but not a single woman,” Shakya can be heard saying in the viral video clip.
“The same happened in the Mahabharata, one crore men were killed over one Panchali (Draupadi), no women were killed… You need to understand the irony here—look at what happened in history: on one occasion, many men were killed; on another, lives were lost over a woman. It wasn’t the women who died; it was the men. We fail to grasp this—what is this all about? Prithviraj Chauhan, for the sake of Sanyogita, sacrificed 55 of his own chieftains—from Kannauj to Delhi—and we are still paying the price for that today,” he added.
Shakya was then interrupted by fellow BJP legislator Priyanka Penchi, who represents the Chachaura seat in Madhya Pradesh, and was also on the dais. “Bhaisahab ye galat baat hai (This is not a good thing to say). She then objected to the comments as being anti-women.
“Women have made sacrifices too. I am a woman myself. You are overlooking the sacrifices made by women,” she said.
Shakya was unfazed. He responded by claiming that he had read many books, and asserted that he knew exactly what had transpired. He then asked Penchi to take her seat.
The onstage public debate between the legislators has become a hot topic in the Madhya Pradesh unit of the BJP. Sources said Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had also joined the event virtually.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP Madhya Pradesh spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said: “BJP has already cleared that we do farmer- and women-centric politics apart from [focusing on ] the youth and downtrodden that completes our commitment to Garib-Youth-Annadata-Naari (GYAN). We are firm on those lines. Any such statement that defies these sentiments is not welcome.”
The Opposition lost no time in lashing out at the BJP for the comments made Shakya.
“This behavior is a testament to the character of the BJP. PM Modi talks a lot about respecting women, while his MLAs, MPs, and ministers insult women on a daily basis. This is not only an insult to the 50 per cent of the population, but also to our civilisation, culture, and religion. This will not be tolerated,” said Jitu Patwari, Congress president in Madhya Pradesh.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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