Assam CM deletes post on Varna system after facing backlash
GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been at the receiving end for his social media post on the Varna system, based on Bhagavad Gita.
Opposition parties have been up in arms against Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma over his Varna system post, while quoting a verse from Bhagavad Gita.
The Assam chief minister posted a verse from Bhagavad Gita on his X handle that deals with the duties of Vaishyas and Shudras towards Brahmins and Kshatriyas.
It may be mentioned here that Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras make up the Varna system in Hinduism.
“Lord Shri Krishna himself described the natural duties of the Vaishyas and Shudras,” Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had posted on Tuesday in Assamese.
Sharing the post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle, the Assam CM had also attached a video clip on verse 44 from Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita.
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The post from the Assam CM read: “…farming, cow rearing, and commerce are natural duties of the Vaishya and serving the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas is the natural duty of the Shudras.”
Assam chief minister further claimed: “Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita are the basis on which the Indian Constitution was written.”
However, this post from the Assam chief minister on the Varna system did not go down well with the opposition parties.
The CPI-M, while responding to the Varna post from the Assam CM, denounced Sarma saying that “BJP’s manuvadi ideology in full play”.
RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha slammed Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma saying that his statement exemplified ‘regressive’ politics.
“Standing in 2023, what should be the priority of this great civilisation? And what are we chasing instead? This is regressive politics at its best,” Jha said while speaking to The Print.
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He said: “An aspirational nation cannot remain comfortable with such things. I have a larger question for the Assam CM — how would he read the ‘Annihilation of Caste’ together with this?”
Congress leader Udit Raj alleged that Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s post was a reflection of the “RSS mentality”.
“They (BJP) want to perpetuate the belief and the practice that the lower caste people are meant to do menial jobs only,” Raj told The Print.
Notably, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma deleted the Varna post from social media after his statement evoked sharp response from the opposition and netizens.
It may be mentioned here that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, in October 2022, had spoken out against the Varna system, saying it needs to be discarded along with the concept of jaati (caste).
