PM Modi’s Ravana terrorism comment draws ire in Sri Lanka

PM Modi had linked Ravana with terrorism and said that “the first person to fight terror was neither a soldier nor a politician, but the mythological bird Jatayu who fought against Ravana to protect a helpless Sita.” (source: PTI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comment that Ravana was the new form of terrorism has drawn fire from Ravana followers in Sri Lanka. In his Vijayadashmi address in Lucknow on October 11, Modi had linked Ravana with terrorism and said that “the first person to fight terror was neither a soldier nor a politician, but the mythological bird Jatayu who fought against Ravana to protect a helpless Sita, whom he was trying to kidnap”.

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“We condemn the statement made by the Indian Prime Minister equalling King Ravana to a terrorist,” Ittapane Saddhatissa, a Buddhist monk who leads the Ravana Force, said.  He said the Ravana Force would soon hand over a petition to the Indian High Commission here, protesting against this remark.

Saddhatissa said Modi’s comment hampers the ongoing reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. Another organisation Ravana Shakthi said Ravana had not been dubbed a terrorist in even in Ramayanaya.