A government schoolteacher in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district has been arrested on charges of hurting religious sentiments for allegedly asking people to follow Buddhism and not to worship Hindu deities, The Hindu reported.

Ratalal Sarovar, 60, administered the pledge to a gathering of 15 residents of a village under Ratanpur police station limits on January 22, the day when the Ram temple in Ayodhya was consecrated.

Bajrang Dal member Rupesh Shukla filed the police complaint after a video of the event was shared on social media.

In his complaint, Shukla said that Sarovar’s actions have hurt the sentiments of the followers of Sanatan Dharma, a term some people use as a synonym for Hinduism. The complaint highlights the fact that the incident took place on the day of the inauguration of the Ram temple.

The police arrested Sarovar on Sunday after filing the first information report on charges of promoting enmity between religious groups and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.

Sarovar’s family has said that the pledge was part of the 22 oaths prescribed by Bhimrao Ambedkar, adding that the issue has been blown out of proportion.

“My father was only reiterating the pledge at a community event, and those who joined did so of their own free will,” Ratalal Sarovar’s son Manoj Sarovar told The Hindu. ”There was absolutely no coercion. He did not intend to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

In October 2022, Rajendra Pal Gautam, a minister in the Aam Aadmi government in Delhi, had to resign after a controversy erupted when he attended an event where some Hindus vowed to convert to Buddhism.

Gautam, the social welfare minister in the Delhi government, had shared pictures, saying that 10,000 intellectuals took a pledge to make a caste-free and untouchable India by adopting the Buddhist faith.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had sought Gautam’s resignation, alleging that the event was an attempt to incite hatred between Hindus and Buddhists.

Also read:Anti-conversion laws: New, stricter provisions aimed at Dalits, say leaders and activists