Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar on Saturday claimed that social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy was among the “agents” of the British colonial rulers.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader alleged that Roy worked to change the faith of the people through English education at the behest of the British colonial rulers.

The minister made these remarks during an event in the state’s Agar Malwa district to mark the 150th anniversary of Adivasi leader Birsa Munda.

Parmar claimed that the British had enlisted several Indians as “fake social reformers” to further their agenda of changing “the faith of the people of this county through English education,” PTI reported.

“There was a vicious cycle in Bengal and surrounding areas aimed at converting the people’s faith through English education,” Parmar said. “Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the individuals who worked as a British agent.”

He also praised Adivasi leader Birsa Munda for trying to stop the “cycle of religious conversion run by some fake social reformers”.

“He saved the tribal community,” Parmar added.

After his comments triggered a row, Parmar released a video on Sunday apologising for his remarks, saying he had misspoken about Roy. He said he respects the social reformer and regretted the “mistake”.

In the 1890s, Munda led the Munda Adivasis in an armed struggle against the British empire and those associated with it in the Chotanagpur region, in what came to be known as the Ulgulan. Their chief demands were Adivasi sovereignty and the end of oppressive land and labour policies. Though the British quelled the revolution, it remains a much-admired part of the community’s history.

It also transformed Munda into the most revered Adivasi icon in the country.

Roy is known for his role in the 19th-century social reform movement. He had opposed several orthodox Hindu rituals and is noted for advocating the abolition of Sati and supporting women’s rights, including widow remarriage. He was also involved in founding the Brahmo Sabha, which later evolved into the Brahmo Samaj.

Also read: Why Hindutva groups want to reshape Birsa Munda’s legend

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