Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Wednesday sparked a controversy with his remarks saying Lord Ram was a ‘non-vegetarian’. A video of the NCP leader’s speech was widely shared on social media, evoking sharp reactions from various quarters.
“Ram is ours, he is of the Bahujan. Ram used to hunt and eat. You want us to become vegetarians, but we consider him our ideal and eat mutton. He was not a vegetarian but a non-vegetarian,” Awhad said while addressing a rally.
Jitendra Awhad also questioned as to what Lord Ram, a Kshatriya, used to eat, implying that Kshatriyas were traditionally non-vegetarians.
Awhad further said that there was an attempt to turn India into a vegetarian nation. He claimed that 80 per cent of the country’s population is still non-vegetarian and that they were also devotees of Lord Ram.