New Delhi: For BJP MP Arun Govil, better known for playing the character of Ram in Ramanand Sagar’s iconic TV serial ‘Ramayan’, the ancient Indian epic holds the key to a positive life, which can stop the disintegration of families in today’s day and age.
“If we adopt even 10 percent of Ramayana in our lives, then there will be happiness… Ramayana is a collection of family, social relationships. … If there is no peace in the house, you will not be able to work. Family peace is very important. What the Ramayana imparts us, we do not know how to take. Positivity is necessary to be happy in life,” the Meerut MP said, as he announced to distribute 11 lakh copies of the Ramayana across the country to mark the first anniversary of the consecration of Ram Lalla idol in Ayodhya.
“I am not doing all this for the sake of fame,” he added at a press briefing Tuesday in Meerut.
The effort is undoubtedly new, but to stop the disintegration that is taking place in families today, he said, adding that someone will have to start from somewhere.
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“If we want to stop the disintegration of the family system and bring back happiness, people will have to be explained and told that if there is happiness and peace in the family, then there is a lot of happiness in life. Happiness affects us not only mentally, but physically too. If negativity is less, then we do not suffer from many diseases. The Ramayana is only text which speaks about how to live a positive life. And, that is why this is a novel experiment,” Govil explained.
He conceded that whatever recognition of his was courtesy Ramayana and hence, he intended to launch the programme to distribute its copies to every household.
This initiative, he told ThePrint, would be done by an NGO. “My life has the imprint of Ram through his portrayal of the character. It’s my turn to give back to the society, and there is no doubt that through Ramayana more positivity can be brought in people’s lives.”
In related events, the first-time BJP MP says his role is not just to hear out grievances and appeals of people in his parliamentary constituency.
“People come to me to say to build roads, make arrangements for water…fix drains… The demands of people notwithstanding, I don’t think that I just came here for only these things,” he said at the press interaction.
“I was not inclined to come to politics, but I was sent here. Whether Lord Ram has sent this (is not known to me) but I am here… I think there is a purpose behind (this).”
His statement was criticised by Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesperson Rajkumar Bhati, who asserted that the primary role of MPs and MLAs is development of their constituencies and addressing people’s problem, “not to distribute Ramayana and Quran”.
“Reading Ramayana or Quran can be a personal choice. It’s not the job of an MP to distribute Ramayana…The BJP has mastery in engaging people in non-serious matters rather than solving problems. Govil, too, is taking cue from Yogi (Adityanath) who wants to take the people in the Ramayana era,” he told ThePrint.
This is not the first time that the opposition has taken a swipe at Govil. In the run up to the general elections, the BJP candidate had sparked a controversy regarding the Indian constitution.
Back at that time, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was among those who had taken critical view of Govil’s remarks.
Similarly, the actor-turned-politician had questioned the existing mechanism with regard to the streaming of adult content through OTT platforms. Taking up the matter in the Lok Sabha, he had also sought the mechanism to be made more stringent in this context.
Back then in November, the first-time MP had contended that “whatever is being shown on OTT platforms is very obscene, we cannot watch it while sitting with family”.
Govil remains firm on having some regulations to check streaming of such content. “…we can’t see such content on OTT and TV. There should be some sort of regulation to check these contents. Our culture is different from others. This kind of content affects our values ,family system and even affects us mentally and physically,” he told ThePrint.
Even the government, he said, had shown concern and responded that it would be looked into by a Parliamentary Standing Committee.
“These social media platforms originate from other countries, whose culture differs from ours. … This type of (regulating content) discussion is happening in almost every country today. So I request the Parliamentary Standing Committee should also take up this issue,” he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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