Late on Friday night, the Mumbai police initiated two First Information Reports (FIRs) against senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and MLA Jitendra Awhad for alleged objectionable remarks concerning Lord Ram.
The first FIR was filed at the MIDC police station following a complaint by Gautam Ravriya, a Bajrang Dal coordinator. Subsequently, a second FIR was lodged against Awhad at the Ghatkopar police station by BJP MLA Ramchandra Kadam on Saturday evening.
Ravriya, in his FIR, mentioned watching Awhad’s speech live on a TV news channel and claimed that the NCP leader, associated with Sharad Pawar’s faction, had made objectionable remarks on Lord Ram, causing hurt to his and others’ religious sentiments.
Awhad has been booked under Section 295 (a) of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to charges of hurting the religious sentiments of a community.
On January 3, during an address to party workers at the NCP’s study camp in Shirdi, Awhad reportedly stated that Lord Ram “was a king of Bahujans and a non-vegetarian.”
He emphasized that his reference was from Valmiki Ramayan and expressed regret over his statement on January 4 without officially withdrawing it.
The controversial remarks sparked a controversy in the state.
Notably, Awhad had argued that historical references from Valmiki Ramayan supported his statement and highlighted Ram’s non-vegetarian lifestyle during his time in the jungle. However, the comments faced backlash, leading to FIRs being filed in both Mumbai and Pune.
Earlier, the Pune police had registered an FIR against Awhad for the same speech, with the complainant, a BJP leader, alleging that the NCP MLA had hurt the sentiments of Hindus at a crucial time when preparations were underway for the Ram temple inauguration in Ayodhya on January 22.
