Summary:
Patna, Jan 17 (PTI) Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal on Monday sought to put Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) on the mat by demanding that his government arrest Daya Prakash Sinha, the Sahitya Akademi Award winning playwright who made some controversial remarks about Emperor Asoka.
A strongly worded rejoinder came from JD(U) Parliamentary Board chief Upendra Kushwaha who accused Jaiswal of trying to wash his hands off the matter by putting the ball in the state government"s court.
Jaiswal had last week lodged an FIR here accusing Sinha, who is also a Padma Shri recipient, of denigrating the historical figure considered "the pride of Bihar" and spreading "incorrect information" that he was the national convenor of the BJP cultural cell.
In a lengthy Facebook post, he demanded arrest of the dramatist who resides in Uttar Pradesh, in the light of the FIR and "trial before a fast track court".
"Once Sinha is pronounced guilty, a delegation of the Bihar government may meet the President (Ram Nath Kovind) with the request that Padma Shri awarded to the convicted person be withdrawn," said Jaiswal.
In a recent interview, Sinha expressed the view that Asoka was very much like Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, as both rose to power after fratricide and projected an image of piety to appear respectable.