On Friday, July 27, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bhupen Borah sought forgiveness from the people of Assam for brazenly equating Lord Krishna and Rukmini’s relationship as Love Jihad, saying that his ancestors reprimanded him in his dreams.
“Last night, I had a vision in my sleep. My ancestors came to me in my dream and made me realise my mistake over the comments. They told me to visit a Namghar and pray,” the Congress leader told reporters here in Guwahati.
The apology came soon after Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma tore into the Congress leader for passing the highly objectionable remark. The Assam CM lambasted Congress by saying that there will come a time when Congress leaders will not be able to find a place to stay other than a mosque or madarsa. He pledged that the government would take legal action against Borah if a complaint was filed against him.
Explaining what the phenomena of love jihad is, the Assam CM said, “It is not proper to justify Love Jihad. Congress leaders will see a time when except Mosque or Madrassa they won’t find a place to stay. If they remain cut off from Hindus in this way their only address will be a mosque or Madarsa, where at times All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) will come and chase them out. I ask the Congress not to be anti-Hindu.”
He added that the incidents in Mahabharat were love and not love jihad. He clarified that love jihad means forcing someone to change through religion, and neither Gandhari nor Rukmini was forced to change religion.
He added that earlier it was only love, but now love jihad happens and that’s why murders take place. “There was love between Krishna and Rukmini, there was no change of religion, there was no Jihad,” he added.
‘Lord Krishna and Dhritarashtra also did love jihad’, claims Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah
Talking to reporters, the Congress state president Bhupen Borah had said on Thursday, July 28, that when Dhritarashtra married Gandhari and Krishna married Rukmini, they had indulged in love jihad.
Bhupen Borah made the comments objecting to Assam CM describing the recent incident of the triple murder in Golaghat as a case of love jihad. In the horrific incident, one Nazibur Rahman Bora killed his Hindu wife and her parents by stabbing them with a knife. The woman Sanghamitra Ghosh had married him ignoring the opposition of her parents, and later marital discords led to the murders. Himanta Biswa Sarma visited the family on Wednesday and said that the case was the result of love jihad.
Responding to the comments, state Congress chief Bhupen Borah said that love jihad is going on for ages, and it took place even during the Mahabharata times. He claimed that Dhritarashtra had married Gandhari against the wishes of her family, and had even got her brothers imprisoned for objecting to the marriage. He also claimed that Gandhari had blindfolded herself so that she does not have to look at Dhritarashtra.
Bhupen Borah further claimed that Lord Krishna also married Rukmini against the wishes of her family, and thus it was also love jihad. He claimed that Krishna had changed his name to marry Rukmini, and Arjun had posed as a woman while accompanying Krishna.
