By IANS
New Delhi : A city court Wednesday rejected the bail plea of three members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s youth wing arrested in Delhi University for vandalism over “objectionable references” to Hindu epic Ramayana in the university’s history course.
Metropolitan Magistrate Siddharth Sharma rejected the students’ bail application and said, “We are living in a democratic society and such actions of the students, despite the apex court’s direction to focus on study rather than in other miscellaneous activities, is a shame.”
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) Delhi general secretary Niharika Sharma said that on Monday they had gone to submit a memorandum to the head of the history department over the alleged objectionable references to characters of Ramayana in the history text when things turned ugly.
“There are certain references to Hanuman in the text which are offensive. Students when expected to reproduce this in their exams will write something that they don’t believe in,” she said.
The text – “Three Hundred Ramanayas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation ” – is an essay by A.K. Ramanujan on different folk traditions related to the Ramayana and is a recommended reading for the students of second year bachelors’ honours.