Asoka the Great has found himself in the middle of a reputational battle in Bihar, around 2,250 years after his death.
Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) vice-president Daya Prakash Sinha has described Asoka, the Mauryan emperor who had a change of heart after the Kalinga War and became an apostle of peace who propagated Buddhism across the subcontinent and beyond, as “cruel, lustful and sinful”.
The description has prompted the Janata Dal United, which shares power with the BJP in Bihar, to demand the scalp of Sinha, who juggles hats such as the BJP’s cultural cell national convener and a playwright.
A former IAS officer, Sinha, 86, likened Asoka to Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor Prime Minister Narendra Modi loves to demonise.
Sinha had said in the interview that Asoka had killed his brothers for the throne and later in his life “tried to hide his sins behind the cloak of religiousness”. He held Asoka responsible for the death of his father Bindusara.
Sinha had said his observations were based on Lankan Buddhist texts, and that the syllabi of schools and colleges in India focused only on the edifying aspects of the Mauryan emperor. Messages this newspaper sent to Sinha seeking his response to the controversy went unanswered.
JDU national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh a.k.a. Lalan Singh, currently in isolation because of Covid-19, put out a video statement condemning Sinha’s remarks and demanding that the Union government take back the Padma Shri awarded to the BJP leader.
Sinha had received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2021 for his play Samrat Asoka, whose synopsis says it “is not a mere chronicle of his life and achievements” but “portrays the king as a human being, with frailties and aspirations”.
Lalan Singh said in his video message on Wednesday: “We demand the President of India, central government and the Prime Minister take back the Padma Shri awarded to him. Writing a new culture and civilisation of our country is unacceptable. Anybody who insults a historical icon of our country cannot be fit for any national award."
“Emperor Asoka was the creator of a greater and akhand Bharat (undivided India). The Asokan Pillars and the Asoka Chakra are part of our historical heritage. The use of insulting words against such a personality cannot be tolerated. Anybody who insults him is a part of a twisted ideology.”
The BJP sought to defuse the controversy by underscoring how the party had honoured Asoka.
BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said: “The BJP respects emperor Asoka. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has released a postal stamp on Asoka and we celebrated his anniversary on a large scale in 2015. Later, the Bihar government announced a holiday on his birth anniversary. This year the holiday is on April 9 in Bihar.”
“Comparing Asoka with Aurangzeb is deplorable. We should not give unnecessary importance to this issue,” Sushil Modi said.
The Mahatma Phule Samta Parishad, a social organisation, condemned Sinha’s remarks. Its Bihar unit president Himanshu Patel said the organisation would burn effigies of Sinha at all district headquarters in the state on Thursday. He demanded that the BJP remove Sinha from the position of national convenor of the party’s cultural cell as well as vice-president of the ICCR.
Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Vinay Kushwaha hit out at Sinha and said: “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh supporter Daya Prakash Sinha has insulted Buddhism and the people tracing their origin to the Mauryas. It seems that the RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government are now conspiring to destroy the non-violence, harmony, peace and brotherhood propagated by Asoka.”
