NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad Faces 3 FIRs For ‘Lord Ram Was A Non-vegetarian’ Remark

Two cases against NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad were lodged in Mumbai on the basis of complaints filed by a VHP leader and BJP MLA Ram Kadam.

New Delhi: NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad has landed in legal trouble for his controversial statement that ‘Lord Ram was a non-vegetarian’. The Mumbai police have filed two FIRs against him for allegedly insulting the religious beliefs of Hindus, officials said on Saturday. The cases against the legislator, who is from the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), were lodged at MIDC police station in Andheri and Ghatkopar police station on the basis of complaints filed by a VHP leader and BJP MLA Ram Kadam, respectively.

This comes a day after a similar case was registered against Awhad in Pune city. According to a police official, a case was registered against Awhad at MIDC police station on Friday night after Gautam  Ravriya, a VHP office-bearer, complained that he heard Awhad making derogatory remarks about Lord Ram on a news channel.

Awhad was charged under section 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs, the official said.

Another case on the same charges was filed against him in Ghatkopar police station on Saturday following a complaint by local MLA Ram Kadam, another official said. Awhad, who represents the Mumbra-Kalwa assembly seat in Thane district, had sparked a row on Wednesday with his comment.

“Lord Ram used to hunt and eat. He is ours, of bahujans. You (an apparent reference to the BJP) are turning us into vegetarians, (but) we are following the example of Ram and consuming mutton,” he had said at an NCP conclave at Shirdi. The word ‘bahujan’ is used to refer to the non-Brahmin sections of society in Maharashtra.

The MLA had later expressed regret over his comment but did not retract it. In Pune, the case against Awhad was lodged by the BJP’s city unit chief Dhiraj Ghate, police said.