Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac sparked a controversy with a tweet saying Vamana, one of the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishu, was “a cheat”.
Many saints and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders have asked the Marxist minister to withdraw his tweet and apologize for hurting sentiments of Hindus.
“We celebrate Mahabali who did not discriminate by caste or creed, not Vamana who cheated him,” the minister had tweeted on Monday.
After his tweet triggered a row the minister, also an economist, re-tweeted saying he was only explaining a narrative from the scriptures.
“To all those who have been upset about my Onam tweet: Accept there can be many narratives. I was referring to the one by Sahodaran Ayyappan, an ardent disciple of Sree Narayana Guru. If you are not convinced, read his Onapattu,” the minister tweeted.
But many saints and BJP leaders did not accept his clarifications.
“Issac has defamed Hindus. What right has he got to insult Hindu Gods like this? He should withdraw his tweet and tender an apology,” said Swami Chidanandapuri, seer of Adviatha Ashram.
“I don’t know who gave him licence to insult Hindu gods. He should tender an apology,” said BJP state president K Surendran.
{{/usCountry}}“I don’t know who gave him licence to insult Hindu gods. He should tender an apology,” said BJP state president K Surendran.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal also found himself in a controversy with a tweet on the occasion of ‘Vamana Jayanthi.’
Vamana Jayanti is celebrated to mark the occasion of Lord Vishnu taking the form of Lord Vamana to defeat king Mahabali.
The festival of Onam celebrates the yearly home-coming of mythical demon king Mahabali and his tweet glorifying Vamana hasn’t gone down well with Malayalis who flooded social media with memes and trolls targeting Kejriwal.
For the people of Kerala, Mahabali remains an icon of equality, justice and honesty. They vouch they can’t rewrite tradition and history with the changing times.
According to legend, after being checkmated by Vamana, Mahabali asked Lord Vishnu a boon to visit his people once a year. The boon was granted and people believe Mahabali visits them on ‘Thiruvonam’ day.