Ram Mohan Roy A "British Agent": Madhya Pradesh Education Minister's Shocker

Madhya Pradesh's Higher Education Minister, Inder Singh Parmar, has triggered a political storm after he made remarks linking 19th-century social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy to British interests.

Speaking at a Birsa Munda Jayanti event in Agar Malwa, Parmar claimed Roy acted as a "British agent" who worked to divide Indian society along caste lines. He alleged that a "vicious cycle" of religious conversions driven by English education was underway in Bengal at the time, and that the British had "enslaved" several Indian reformers, including Roy. Parmar said it was Birsa Munda who "broke this cycle" and protected tribal identity and society.

The Congress reacted sharply. Party spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta condemned the remarks, calling them "shameful." He questioned Parmar's understanding of history, asking whether the abolition of Sati was also a form of "British brokerage." "What kind of brokerage was this? Those who were agents of the British are saying this today," Gupta said.

This is not the first time Parmar's statements have stirred controversy. Earlier, he had claimed that India was not discovered by Vasco da Gama but by a merchant named Chandan, saying "we have been taught the wrong history." He had made the remark while addressing a university convocation, asserting that the official historical narrative had long been distorted.

The minister also came under scrutiny after his department directed government and private colleges to mandatorily include 88 specific books in their libraries, many of which were authored by individuals linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, including three books by former senior RSS leader Suresh Soni.

When he was the School Education minister, Parmar had stated that "only lies have been taught in the country", accusing historians of altering India's true history and portraying foreign explorers as the heroes of discovery. According to him, "agents were placed in India" before and after independence to shape the nation's historical understanding.