Bihar Education Minister stirs row, compares Ramcharitmanas to cyanide

Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar courted controversy once more when he compared the Hindu scripture Ramcharitmanas with potassium cyanide.

“There are many great things in the Hindi scripture Ramcharitmanas but if you serve 55-kind of dishes and sprinkle potassium cyanide over it, would you eat it? Same is the case with scriptures of Hinduism,” Mr. Chandra Shekhar said in an event organised on Hindi Diwas (Hindi Day) on September 14. The video of his controversial statement, though, went viral on social media on Friday.

The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in the State slammed Mr. Chandra Shekhar for his statement while, the ruling coalition Rashtriya Janata Dal and JD(U) leaders distanced themselves from what the minister has said.