'Remark came out by mistake': BJP MP Inder Singh Parmar apologises after calling Raja Ram Mohan Roy a ‘British Agent’

Shajapur: Madhya Pradesh Minister and BJP leader Inder Singh Parmar has triggered a row by calling social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, an "agent of the British" who started a "vicious cycle of religious conversion".

After facing outrage for his comment, the state Higher Education Minister on Sunday issued an apology, claiming it was a "slip of the tongue".

Parmar made the controversial comment during an event held in Agar Malwa district on the 150th birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda on "Rajaram Mohan Roy was a British agent. He worked in the country as their 'dalal', and started a vicious cycle of religious conversion," he said in his address.

The British had projected several people as "fake social reformers" and promoted those who encouraged conversions, he claimed.

"If anyone had the courage to stop this and protect the tribal community, it was Birsa Munda," he said, adding that missionary schools were the only educational institutions during the British rule and education was used as a cover for religious conversion.

The minister said that Munda had recognised this trend, left missionary education, and fought for his community and against British rule.

Following criticism for his comments about Roy, Parmar, in a video statement, said the remark "came out by mistake".

"Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a social reformer, and he should be respected. The sentence slipped out of my mouth by mistake, and I am very sad about it. I apologise for it," he said.

The minister said he did not intend to insult any historical figure.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772, in Radhanagar, Bengal, in an orthodox Brahmin family.

Known as the father of the Indian Renaissance, he ushered in an era of enlightenment and liberal reformist modernisation in India.