Indian poet Kumar Vishwas found himself at the receiving end of severe backlash after he took a veiled dig at actress Sonakshi Sinha's inter-faith marriage with actor Zaheer Iqbal. During an event in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday, Vishwas stated that parents should teach their children Ramayana or else someone else would "take away the Lakshmi" of their home.

A video of his speech has now gone viral in which Vishwas can be seen taking potshots at Sonakshi's marriage as well as her father, Shatrughan Sinha. "Teach your children the names of Lord Ram's brother and Goddess Sita's sisters. Teach them Ramayan and Bhagawad Gita. Otherwise, even though your house is named Ramayan, someone else might take away the Shri Lakshmi of your household," he said. For those unversed, Shatrughan Sinha's Mumbai residence is named Ramayan.

As soon as the video went viral, Vishwas was slammed for his comments about someone else's personal life and upbringing. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate even went on to call his statement "derogatory".