From ministers who claim that cow milk contains gold to those who believe performing fire rituals can save us from the clutches of climate change, those in charge of running our country have made their share of LOL/WTF comments. Now, Giriraj Singh, a Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Begusarai in the state of Bihar has done it yet again.Speaking at a local religious event, he said that it was imperative to teach students in India Hindu religious texts like the Hanuman Chalisa, Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana to inculcate Indian “sanskaar” (values) and keep them on track despite where they may wander, quite literally. He claims that kids from “well-off families” who study in “missionary schools” are the ones who go abroad and start eating beef, a contentious issue in India where beef is banned in several states and those who indulge in it are often reminded that according to Hinduism, the cow is our mother. According to IANS, he addressed the gathering by saying, “We send our children to missionary schools and they get through IIT and become engineers, collectors and SPs or they go abroad. Most of them start eating beef. Why? Because we did not teach them our culture and traditional values….the values of Sravan Kumar.”He also pointed out that after visiting several households, he found that only a handful actually kept hardcover copies of these religious texts, thus stressing that the only next logical step would be to introduce them as a subject to be taught in private schools. In fact, he even said it should start at private schools since “at government-run ones, we run the risk of inviting accusations of imposing 'bhagwa' (saffron) agenda.”
He then further went on to say that the fierce nationwide protests that have sparked up against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act are all “sponsored” by “Pakistani organisations” and opposition leaders to divide the nation in a way the Mughals or British couldn’t. This is the same guy who has previously come under fire for saying things like couples with more than two children should be stripped of their voting rights because “certain communities” refuse to use birth control, and even has a police case against him for criticising Muslim burial practices while campaigning for elections.Follow Shamani Joshi on Instagram.