Asking not to do anything that would hurt the sentiments of Hindus, the BJP on Wednesday asked the Centre to withdraw noted Kannada writer A K Ramanujan’s book from college syllabus as it contained “obnoxious and atrocious” references concerning Lord Rama, Ravana and Sita.

BJP Parliamentary Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the book titled Ancient Culture of India, a collection of essays of late Dr Ramanujan, had hurt the religious sentiments of the majority community. “We are not seeking a ban on the book but it should not be taught in Delhi University as a subject for the students of History and should be withdrawn immediately,” he said.

“The BJP did not object to the research aspect but the contents found were very very offensive and nobody could tolerate it.” he said.