From sansad (Parliament) to sadak (street), invoking Lord Ram has acquired aggressive, even chilling tones. Last week in Parliament, when AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and TMC MPs were sworn in as members, BJP backbenchers shouted Jai Shri Ram, almost as a triumphalist taunt. Days later, a mob was heard on video forcing a badly beaten Tabrez Ansari to chant Jai Shri Ram and Jai Hanuman. Ansari has now died. A taxi driver in Thane was beaten and forced to chant Jai Shri Ram for which an FIR has been registered and three arrested.
Jai Shri Ram, Jai Siya Ram were once devotion-filled reverential phrases. “Ram Ram” was and still is an affectionate salutation. That these words have now become part of Read More
