Asha Bhosle joins 'Jai Shree Ram' debate, says 'can I sing Hare Krishna Hare Ram song?'

In a tweet on Friday, Bhosle said: "Dum Maro Dum...Bolo Subh Shyam Hare Krishna Hare Ram..can I perform this evergreen song or not ?"

The debate intensified in the ongoing week after 49 intellectuals wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the minorities are getting lynched in the name of 'Ram'.

In the letter, the intellectuals including filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishan, Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Goutam Ghose, Kaushik Sen, actor Soumitra Chatterjee, historian Ram Chandra Guha said the slogan in the name of God has become a "war-cry".

The letter reads, "...'Jai Shree Ram' has become a provocative "war-cry" today that leads to law and order problems, and many lynching take place in its name. It is shocking that so much violence should be perpetrated in the name of religion!"

"You have criticised such lynching in Parliament Mr. Prime Minister, but that is not enough! What action has actually been taken against the perpetrators? We strongly feel that such offences should be declared non-bailable, and the exemplary punishment should be meted out swiftly and surely. If life imprisonment without parole can be the sentence in cases of murder, why not for lynchings, which are even more heinous?" it added.

As a counter, 62 personalities including actress Kangana Ranaut and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) on Friday accused the 49 intellectuals of making "false narratives" to "tarnish" the Prime Minister's image.

Kangana and 61 others wrote a letter to Modi saying, "An open letter which has been published on July 23, 2019, and addressed to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has astonished us. Forty nine self-styled "guardians" and "conscience keepers" of the nation and of democratic values have once again expressed selective concern and demonstrated a clear political bias and motive."

"To us, the undersigned, this document of selective outrage comes across as an attempt to foist a FALSE NARRATIVE with the intention of denigrating the democratic ethos and norms of our collective functioning as a nation and people. It is aimed at tarnishing India's international standing and to negatively portray Prime Minister Modi's untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundations of positive nationalism and humanism which is the core of INDIANNESS." 

Apart from Kangana, lyricist and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon Joshi, filmmakers Vivek Agnihotri and Madhur Bhandarkar were also among the 62 people.

Image Credit: twitter.com/ashabhosle