BJP has made Ram into 'Rambo', Hanuman into a symbol for anger: Bhupesh Baghel

Baghel said under BJP, India is going through a phase of 'provocative and aggressive nationalism'

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel slammed the BJP and its parent organisation RSS, saying that under them, India is going through a phase of "provocative and aggressive nationalism".

He also said that the saffron party has turned Lord Ram into 'Rambo' and Hanuman into a symbol of anger.

“Ram is embedded in our culture. We have accepted Ram in various manifestations. We know Kabir’s Ram, Tulsi’s Ram and Shabari’s Ram. Ram lives in the hearts and minds of every Indian. The workers have accepted Ram in one form, the farmers see him in another form, the tribals see yet another form, the intellectuals and devotees see him in another form,” Baghel told The Indian Express.

"Mahatma Gandhi also saw Ram. His last words were ‘Hey Ram’ and he used to recite 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram'. But today, with the agenda BJP and the RSS are setting, they have turned the Ram who was ‘Maryada Purushottam’ and lives in the hearts of every devotee as a symbol of love, into a fighter. They are turning him into 'Rambo'," he added.

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Speaking on Lord Hanuman, Baghel told the publication that "Hanuman is the epitome of humility, devotion and knowledge. He was meditative and devotional in the old pictures, and today, he is angry and aggressive. The way they are setting the mindset of the society.”

Baghel also said that the BJP's idea of nationalism was "imported," pointing out that their model of nationalism has no place for dissent and disagreement. He added that it took 75 years for the RSS to make the country understand its "version" of nationalism because it was rejected in the past. "Remember, it was rejected during Gandhi’s time. Savarkar and his ideas were rejected. But it is like bubbles in the water. A time will come when they will burst. This period will also end," he said.