Madhya Pradesh Minister Labels Raja Ram Mohan Roy a "British Agent": Controversy and Historical Revisionism

Madhya Pradesh Higher Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar has sparked controversy with his remarks characterizing 19th-century social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy as a "British agent."

During a Birsa Munda Jayanti celebration in Agar Malwa, Parmar claimed that Roy worked on behalf of British interests to divide Indian society along caste lines. He suggested that English education in Bengal at that time was fueling a "vicious cycle" of religious conversions, and that the British had "enslaved" several Indian reformers, including Roy.

According to Parmar, it was tribal leader Birsa Munda who "broke this cycle" and protected indigenous tribal identity and society from these influences.

The Congress party responded with strong criticism. Party spokesperson Bhupendra Gupta described Parmar's statements as "shameful" and questioned the minister's grasp of historical facts. Gupta pointedly asked whether Roy's campaign to abolish the practice of Sati was also to be considered a form of "British brokerage," adding, "Those who were agents of the British are saying this today."

This is not Parmar's first historical controversy. He previously claimed that India wasn't discovered by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama but by a merchant named Chandan, asserting that "we have been taught the wrong history" during a university convocation address.

The minister has also faced scrutiny for directing government and private colleges to include 88 specific books in their libraries, many authored by individuals connected to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), including three works by former senior RSS leader Suresh Soni.

During his tenure as School Education Minister, Parmar had stated that "only lies have been taught in the country," accusing historians of distorting India's authentic history and incorrectly portraying foreign explorers as discovery heroes. He claimed that "agents were placed in India" before and after independence to manipulate the nation's historical narrative.