Chhattisgarh CM slams ‘Adipurush’ over portrayal of Lord Ram, says govt will think about ban if people want

Raipur, Jun 17 (PTI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday alleged an attempt was made to tarnish the image of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman in the movie “Adipurush’ and said the Congress government may consider banning it in the state if people demand so.

He alleged that dialogues in the film are “objectionable and indecent” and questioned the “silence” of political parties which call themselves the custodian of religion, an apparent jibe at BJP.

When asked by reporters whether the state government will ban this movie, Baghel said, “The government will think about it (ban) if people will raise a demand in this direction”.

“An attempt is being made to tarnish the image of all our deities. We have seen the gentle face of Lord Ram and that of Lord Hanuman drenched in devotion, but from the last few years an attempt is being made to change this image,” he told reporters at his official residence.

Baghel said Hanuman has been introduced as a symbol of wisdom, power and devotion since our childhood, but in this film, “Lord Ram is shown as the ‘Yuddhak’ (warrior) Ram and Hanuman as the angry bird”.

Neither our ancestors imagined such an image of Lord Hanuman nor our society accepts it, he added.

“The dialogues and language used in this movie are indecent. In Tulasidas’ Ramayana, Lord Ram was portrayed as ‘Maryada Purushottam’ and decent language was used. In ‘Adipurush’, dialogues of characters are of very low level,” he said.

Prabhas-starrer “Adipurush”, a retelling of the epic Ramayana, was released on Friday.

“When Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, he had suggested to Ramanand Sagar to make the epic serial Ramayana which became hugely popular. The pictures of Lord Ram and Hanuman were distorted on the pretext of ‘Adipurush’ and indecent words were put in the mouths of the characters. What the young generation will learn from this?” he questioned.

He alleged Lord Bajrang bali is made to speak the language of Bajrang Dal in this movie.

“Why people of those political parties who call them the custodian of religion are silent on this movie? Why BJP leaders who kept giving statements on ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’ are silent on ‘Adipursh’? Even lower-rung leaders of the BJP are not speaking anything on this,” Baghel alleged.

Chhattisgarh goes to polls later this year.