Kumar Vishwas invokes Ramayana in veiled dig at Shatrughan Sinha, stokes row

Poet Kumar Vishwas sparked controversy with a veiled jibe at actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha and his daughter, actor Sonakshi Sinha, indirectly referencing her interfaith marriage during a public event.

“Teach your children the Ramayana, or someone else might take away the ‘Lakshmi’ of your house, even if the house is named ‘Ramayana’,” Vishwas said at a poetry event in Uttar Pradesh.

Shatrughan Sinha’s Mumbai house is named ‘Ramayana’ and Sonakshi Sinha recently married her longtime boyfriend and actor, Zaheer Iqbal, which suggests that Viswas was alluding to their marriage.

Vishwas’s comments have ignited a fierce debate online. Congress leader Supriya Shrinate slammed the poet for making “lewd” and “cheap” comments for applause, asking, “Doesn’t a girl have the right to marry the person of her choice?”

She added that if Vishwas had studied the Ramayana, he “would have definitely understood love,” further questioning, “Poet Sir, who teaches others’ children to read the Ramayana and Geeta–while hating the religion of Sonakshi’s husband–have you forgotten how beautifully mutual love is depicted in the Ramayana?”

Another Congress leader, Surendra Rajput, also condemned the remarks, calling them “cheap comments” and saying even “Lord Rama will not forgive them.”

“Kumar Vishwas, you too have a daughter. Remember, with all the meanness and shamelessness with which you have tried to tarnish Shatrughan Sinha Sir and his daughter Sonakshi Sinha, all the mud will fall on your face one day,” he tweeted.

Several others on the internet also joined the debate, with many slamming the poet over his comments.

Vishwas has not responded to the controversy so far.