Author booked for depicting Lord Ram, Gandhi in poor light

Academician and author K S Bhagawan has been booked for allegedly insulting Lord Ram and Mahatma Gandhi in his book, police said Tuesday.

The case was filed under IPC Section 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), a police official said.

The Kannada book "Rama Mandira Yeke Beda" (Why Ram temple is not required) claims Ram was not a God and he suffered from weaknesses just as any other human being.

Right-wing organisations had on Friday staged a demonstration against Bhagawan, accusing him of depicting Lord Ram in poor light in his book and making derogatory references.

A complaint was lodged by Hindu Jagaran Vedike Mysuru district president K Jagadish Hebbar on Saturday against Bhagwan's alleged derogatory references to Lord Ram and Gandhi in his book, the police official said.

Bhagawan, who had courted controversy by making certain references to the Bhagavad Gita that are termed as "offensive" by right-wing outfits, has made unflattering observations about Ram's character in his book.

The author, however, had defended his work, saying it was based on Valmiki's Ramayana.

Pro-Hindu activists had staged a demonstration in front of his house Friday and courted arrest.

BJP's Karnataka unit also had targeted Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy over his "silence" on the issue and demanded that Bhagawan be arrested immediately.

State senior BJP leader and MLA S Suresh Kumar had said in a Facebook post that the state government had two choices "either it should jail Bhagawan or send him to mental hospital".