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| A screen grab of Asaram Bapu and Ramdev among India's famous saints from Times Now |
A controversy erupted on Sunday after media reported that disgraced godman Asaram Bapu has been listed among India's famous saints in a third standard text book in Jodhpur.
The text book also celebrates another controversial godman Ramdev, who is known as much for his political and business acumen as for his spiritual discourses.
The text book ranks the two worldly godmen among a galaxy deeply revered spiritual leaders: Guru Nanak, Paramahamsa, Buddha, Mother Theresa, Vivekananda and Sanakaracharya.
While Ramdev's status dims a little when compared to Gautam Buddha, it is the inclusion of Asaram Bapu, which is outright scandalous.
Two Surat-based sisters have lodged separate complaints against Asaram and his son Narayan Sai accusing them of rape, sexual assault and illegal confinement.
The moral science textbook that features Asaram Bapu and Ramdev among great saints appears in Nyaya Ujala, a book by a Delhi-based Gurukul Prakashan.
The latest Asaram Bapu controversy follows reports that a Madhya Pradesh textbook has listed Musharraf among world's great leaders.
Twitter responds to Jodhpur textbook listing Asaram along with Guru Nanak, Buddha and Vivekananda
Asaram is 'famous saint' and Kim Jong Un is 'God!'#Asaram— Pratik Mishra (@para_teek) August 2, 2015Shocking moral lessons in jodhpur. Asaram saint?? Education officer says action will b taken tomorow. https://t.co/xuAn4j4r4d— Kavita Singh (@KavitaaSinghh) August 2, 2015Asaram declared saint, Shiny Ahuja plans to support BJP to start his journey towards attaining sainthood.— Bilal Ahmed (@BilalAh82358301) August 2, 2015Asaram and MSG has the largest number of bots tweeting in http://t.co/sFITmvNe0D else can these guys have more tweets than Cong/BJP/AAP #'s— Anoop Chathoth (@anoopc) August 2, 2015So children can mug up : "Asaram was a great saint who not only raped his disciples but also eliminated witnesses"! https://t.co/jhwgZqnuPn— Abdulla Madumoole (@AMadumoole) August 2, 2015Asaram declared saint, Shiny Ahuja plans to support BJP to start his journey towards attaining sainthood.— Sir Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhaqat) August 2, 2015Yes, Asaram is a saint. Smriti Irani has won two Nobel prizes. Amit Shah is the world's greatest human being. And Modi is not communal.— lindsay pereira (@lindsaypereira) August 2, 2015Asaram defends inclusion in textbook as totally justified. Says he's a devout, god-fearing rapist pic.twitter.com/O8BkA3r81T— IndiaExplained (@IndiaExplained) August 2, 2015Hmmm, Asaram is a saint. Baba Ramdev is a scientist. Amit Shah is like Mahatma Gandhi. And Gajendra Chauhan is, of course, a Marlon Brando.— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) August 2, 2015