New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Ashok Bajpai on Tuesday demanded a law that would prevent disrespect shown to Hindu deities by way of writing, painting or any visual medium.

Speaking during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Bajpai, a lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh, said Hindus are considered tolerant, but some people show disrespect towards their tolerance by “insulting” their Gods and Goddesses by publishing objectionable literature or paintings.

Urging the government to come up with an “Ish Ninda Kanoon” (law to prevent disrespect of deities), he said tolerance shown by the Hindu communities is being perceived as “a weakness”. He said some people do not hesitate to hurt the sentiments of Hindus and make objectionable statements, publish literature and draw pictures about their faith and deities.

The BJP leader said that more than 100 countries have blasphemy laws for those who insult faith.

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Biju Janata Dal MP, Sasmit Patra, raised the demand for including Ahimsa or non-violence in the preamble of the Constitution. Speaking during Zero Hour, Patra said Odisha chief minster, Naveen Patnaik, had proposed that the idea of Ahimsa (non-violence) should be included in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution in 2018.

Ahimsa is the most powerful message given by India to the world, Patra said. The BJD MP who has raised the demand in the House on an earlier occasion as well, said in March 2021, the unanimOdisha Assembly ously passed a resolution to include Ahimsa in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. The resolution was passed to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to the state of Odisha.