Drama or change of heart in order to convince the police that he should be allowed back into Hyderabad? This could be either. In a turn of events over the bitter row between film critic Mahesh Kathi and Swami Paripoornananda, the Hindu seer said that he was 'forgiving' Mahesh for his comments on the Ramayana.
This came after a video of Mahesh Kathi began doing the rounds on social media, where he is seen singing a devotional song. However, it is not clear as to when the video was recorded and in what context Mahesh was singing the song.
"They showed me the video where he sang beautifully on lord Ram. He has understood the mistake he has made. He has hurt us but he has also sung this song. He may not be as great as Valmiki, but he has potential," Paripoornananda told reporters.
"He is well educated. If he understands lord Ram properly, he can also become a great person in the future. One man has made a mistake. I wish and pray that Kathi Mahesh soon understands the significance of lord Ram," he added.
The seer, who is the founder of Rashtriya Hindu Sena, was kept under house arrest in Jubilee Hills by the West Zone police last week, before he was externed and expelled from the jurisdiction of the Hyderabad city police.
Following this, the seer told the media that he was only banned from the limits of the Hyderabad Commissionerate and could still visit the outskirts of the city and parts of the IT sector, which are under the jurisdiction of the Rachakonda and Cyberabad police.
Paripoornananda’s comments came a day after the Hindu seer received two more show cause notices from the Commissionerates of Rachakonda and Cyberabad, asking him why he should not be externed from their jurisdiction as well.
The fresh notices to the seer came days after the Hyderabad police externed film critic and activist Mahesh Kathi for his alleged derogatory comments on the Ramayana, which had triggered off a massive row in Telangana.
As things heated up between Mahesh Kathi, and Paripoornananda and his followers, Paripoornananda had planned to launch a 'Darmika Chaitanya Yatra' to protest Mahesh's comments.
On the same day, Mahesh was taken out of the city and dropped at his native place in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
Mahesh Kathi is the first person to be externed from Hyderabad without having any criminal background. However, many cases were booked against him for his comments on the Ramayana.
The police had earlier faced criticism for taking action against Mahesh Kathi, who did not have any criminal background, following which they also took action on the seer.
Meanwhile, the film critic had condemned the police’s move to extern the seer saying that it was not the ‘solution for the problem’, and said that externment was against the ‘spirit of democracy’.