Minister meets Jain monk over Dadlani tweet controversy

The meeting took place this morning even as a group of Jain community members staged a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in the national capital, demanding immediate arrest of Dadlani. 

“I met Tarun Sagar Maharaj and talked about the controversy that arose two days ago. He said that he was not affected by it and that he has forgiven those who inadvertently did so,” the Delhi minister said. Jain said efforts were on to politicise the whole issue and that the matter should be put to rest as the monk has forgiven the guilty. 

“I feel some people are doing politics over it, the issue should be ended now. (Congress man) Tehsin Poonawala who commented against Maharaj-ji has not even apologised and none of his party’s leaders, including Sonia-ji and Rahul Gandhi, has expressed regret over it. The mater should be kept away from politics,” he said. 

Jain said he and Kejriwal had earlier sought forgiveness for Dadlani’s tweets. “I also carried Arvind Kejriwal’s message that he felt sad for what was said about him to which Maharaj-ji said that he has already forgiven those who inadvertently did so,” he said.

Jain also defended Dadlani, saying that he realised his mistake and was deeply hurt over the whole issue and repeatedly sought forgiveness for his act. “Vishal realised that he committed a mistake and was deeply hurt. He expressed apologies many times,” Jain said.

Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma on Monday found himself in the middle of yet another controversy for his remarks that foreigners travelling to India should avoid wearing skirts, forcing him to issue a clarification. Sharma said his comments were “advisory in nature” and were meant for those tourists who were visiting religious places. 

Talking to reporters on Sunday in Agra, he had said, “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts... Indian culture is different from the western (culture).” The remarks evoked sharp reactions with Congress leader Manish Tiwari terming them as “most uncultured remarks” and Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal saying that the comments reveal a very “horrible and pathetic mind-set”.