Madhya Pradesh Min Inder Singh Parmar apologises for terming Raja Ram Mohan Roy a ‘British Agent’

BHOPAL: Enthused by the landslide poll win in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday evening said that the victory set the groundwork for a similar performance in neighbouring West Bengal.Just a day later, Inder Singh Parmar, a minister of the BJP regime in Madhya Pradesh, has triggered political controversy by terming Raja Ram Mohan Roy a “British Agent.” Roy, a 17th and 18th century social reformer, is highly respected across Bengal and is widely considered the ‘Father of the Bengal Renaissance.’Addressing the Jan Jatiya Gaurav Diwas program to mark the birth anniversary of legendary tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda in native Agar Malwa district on Saturday, the minister claimed that Roy acted as a “British agent,” who worked to divide Indian society on caste lines.“Britishers were working at changing the religious faith and identities of people in India through promotion of English education. It was in that direction that many Indians had been turned into social reformers by the British, one of whom was Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a British agent. He worked to divide Indian society along caste lines,” Parmar said.Adding in the same vein, the MP higher education minister said, it was tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda, who broke the vicious cycle of religious conversion and saved the tribal society.Reacting sharply to the minister’s controversial remark on Roy, the state Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta termed the development as shameful. “The minister seems to have a deep understanding of history. He needs to also tell whether Roy’s role in abolition of Sati too was part of British brokerage. Those who once were themselves the agents of the British are now terming social reformers as British agents,” Gupta said, mocking the minister.



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