Kumar Vishwas's veiled ‘Ramayana’ dig at Shatrughan, Sonakshi Sinha sparks row

At a poetry event in UP, Vishwas said that someone might take one's ‘Lakshmi’ away even if their house is named ‘Ramayana’.

After 'Shaktimaan' fame actor Mukesh Khanna, renowned poet Kumar Vishwas has drawn ire for his seemingly veiled remarks at veteran Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha and his daughter Sonakshi Sinha.

Kumar Vishwas's remark comes days after Mukesh Khanna's 'Ramayana' jibe sparked a row. (ANI)

Speaking at a poetry event in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, Vishwas said, "Teach your children about Ramayana. Otherwise, it might so happen that while your house is named 'Ramayana', someone else might take away your household's ‘Lakshmi’."

The snippet of Vishwas's remarks from the event has gone viral on social media, drawing heavy criticism from netizens and others alike.

Why the poet's remarks seemed like a jibe at the Sinha's family was because Shatrughan's Mumbai home is named 'Ramayana' and his daughter, actor Sonakshi Sinha recently married her long-time beau Zaheer Iqbal. Vishwas's statements suggested that he was hinting at Sonakshi's inter-faith marriage.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate slammed Vishwas, a former Aam Aadmi Party member, for his remarks. She asked if he would make such "lewd comments on someone else's daughter and get applause" if he also has a daughter in his house.

"By doing this, you can already guess to what extent you have fallen," she wrote in a post on X.

The Congress leader further said that Vishwas's comment was not only "cheap" but it also exposed his real thinking about women.

"Your words 'otherwise someone else will take away the Shrilakshmi of your house'. Is a girl some kind of thing that someone can take away somewhere? Till when will people like you keep considering a woman as the property of her father first and then of her husband?" she asked.

The Congress leader said that neither Shatrughan Sinha nor Sonakshi need his "certificate". She demanded that Vishwas realise his "mistake" and apologise to both Shatrughan and Sonakshi Sinha.

Several netizens also slammed Vishwas on social media, especially on X. Some said that his remarks revealed his true thinking, while others asked as to why he was so bothered about someone else's wedding.

Recently, actor Mukesh Khanna was lambasted by Sonakshi and her father for his remarks on the former during a recent interview.

Khanna had blamed Shatrughan Sinha for not teaching Sonakshi about Ramayana, bringing back the Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) 11, 2019, occurrence when Sonakshi couldn't answer a question about the Hindu mythological epic.

Sonakshi hit out at Mukesh and asked him to "stop bringing up the same incident time and again to be back in the news at the expense of me and my family".

Shatrughan Sinha also came to his daughter's defence and slammed Khanna.

"I believe someone has a problem with Sonakshi not answering a question on the Ramayana. Firstly what qualifies this person to be an expert on all things to do with the Ramayana? And who has appointed him the guardian of the Hindu religion?” the veteran actor asked while speaking with Bollywood Hungama.