Last Updated on November 16, 2025 2:58 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Staff Reporter
Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar, who received criticism for calling social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy a “British agent”, has now issued an apology, saying his statement was a “slip of tongue”.
Parmar’s remark came during a program in Agar Malwa marking the 150th birth anniversary of tribal freedom icon Birsa Munda, where he claimed Roy acted “on British directions,” and that English education in Bengal had created a “vicious cycle” of religious conversion.
“During that time, missionary schools run by the British were the primary means of education, where religious conversion efforts were carried out. Birsa Munda, too, wanted to study, but after understanding the missionary activities happening there, he left the school and joined the movement against British rule,” the BJP leader said.
As criticism mounted across political and academic circles, Parmar released a video message on Sunday, saying, “While speaking on the life of Bhagwan Birsa Munda, I accidentally misinterpreted Raja Ram Mohan Roy. I deeply regret this and I apologize.”
He said that Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a “renowned” social reformer. “I personally respect him. The statement slipped out inadvertently,” he added.
The apology, however, did little to contain the uproar.
Congress spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta said Parmar’s remark was not just factually wrong but “an insult to India’s reformist legacy.”
“Was the abolition of Sati also some form of British brokerage? Those who were truly close to the British are today calling our reformers agents,” he said.
He added that the minister’s comments reflect a dangerous trend of rewriting history to fit “ideological narratives.”