On March 18, Rekha Jain, the General Secretary of the Madhya Pradesh Women’s Congress and party leader in Jabalpur, embroiled herself in major controversy. She has made an objectionable comment on Bhagwan Parashuram, following which an FIR (First Information Report) was lodged against her.
The FIR was lodged by one Rohit Tiwari at Lordganj police station. The complainant, called this act an insult to the whole Brahmin community, not just Brahmin but for all those who revere Bhagwan Parashuram.
Based on the complaint by Tiwari, the police booked Jain under various sections of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita), including sections 196, 299, 302, and section 66A of the IT Act.
The controversy erupted, leading to the registration of an FIR after Jain compared Bhahwan Parashuram with tyrant-invader Aurangzeb. As the matter further fuelled calling for criticism from all sections of the society, the District Congress President, Saurabh Sharma issued show-cause notice to Jain. Also, she has been instructed to apologise in public within 48 hours of receiving the notice.
It is pertinent to mention that, on March 12, Jain via a Facebook post compared Bhagwan Parashuram with tyrant Aurangzeb who has not only invaded India 13 times, looted temples, and destroyed them but also killed Hindus. His hatred towards the community is hidden to none. After being called out, Jain deleted the post, however, the damage was already done. As per the post, the comparison drawn between a Rishi and a tyrant was how Aurangzeb beheaded his father, whereas, as per common belief, Bhagwan Parashuram beheaded his mother.
“Aurangzeb was cruel; no one considers him an ideal; Muslims also do not name their children Aurangzeb. But the followers of Hindutva even build temples of Parashuram,” she further said in the post.
Jain apologised for her act, saying the post was shared due to ignorance and she regretted it.
“A post was shared from my wall due to ignorance, for which I regret. There is no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community. As soon as it came to my notice, I removed that post from the wall. Also, I apologize to everyone for hurting your feelings,” she stated in her Facebook post.
The Congress party also distanced itself from the controversial post by saying “It was her personal opinion”. Congress party MLA Ramkishore Dogne said “It can be her personal opinion, and he should reply to it. There is neither such ideology of the Congress nor it think about such things. Congress never manipulates history. It has taken history forward and moved the country forward following it…Jain’s views can be personal. It has nothing to do with the Congress party.”
However, MP Minister and BJP leader Vishwas Sarang took a jibe on the Congress party, saying it has become a habit for the party to insult Hindu deities every now and then.
“It has become the habit of Congress to insult Hindu gods, goddesses and Hindu saints. The Congress leader is forgetting that Parashuram is God and that insult to God will not be tolerated in this country. Nothing will happen by taking her statements back (referring to deleting the post). In a true sense, the Congress should expel her from the party. If the Congress does not remove her from the party, it means that it is the official statement of the Congress and it will be proved that the Congress is anti-Hindu,” Sarang said.
