Police in Mysuru on Sunday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against rationalist and multiple award winning writer, KS Bhagwan for allegedly insulting religion and religious beliefs (Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code). The FIR was registered based on a complaint by Mysuru district president of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Jagadish Hebbar K on Saturday at Kuvempu Nagar Police Station against Bhagwan’s book titled Rama Mandira Yeke Beda (Why we do not need the Ram Temple)’.
According to the police complaint, Hebbar took exception to Bhagwan’s portrayal of Rama as a womaniser and terming Mahatma Gandhi as a religious fanatic. The author is currently in Canada.
Prior to this complaint, there were several objections raised against his book by right wing outfits, including the Karnataka unit of the BJP.
Speaking to TNM, the award-winning author defended his book and said there is nothing objectionable in it, while asserting that he had written based only on Valmiki’s text.
“I have told the police that it is my duty as a citizen to promote rationalism, scientific temper and reform humanism according to Article 51A(h) in The Constitution of India. I have made a comparative study between Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi. My observation is Swami Vivekananda is more scientific, rationalistic and was above all religious consideration. He observed that Hinduism is a narrow religion and said that no religion oppressed on the poor and the downtrodden in a fashion such as Hinduism. He condemns Hinduism as a destroyer of the lower classes. Compared to him, Gandhi does not take such a critical view of Hinduism. He only says he is a Santane and said his ideal is Rama and goes by Bhagwad Gita which propounds the four-fold (caste) structure of society as Krishna created himself,” Bhagwan said.
“According to Chaturvarna system, Bhagwat Gita and Rama, the lower classes in the eyes of Hinduism are called slaves to Brahmins. The same is said By Manu in his smriti. How can he being a leader accept it while Vivekananda rejected it. Observing all this, Gandhi appears to me as a fundamentalist religious bigot,” he added.
Bhagwan was earlier booked in 2015 for allegedly insulting the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and in the process hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of noted journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh suspected that Gauri’s killers had also conspired to target Bhagwan. Following this, he was provided security by the state government.