According to the police, Nand Kumar Baghel allegedly called Brahmins “outsiders” while addressing an event in Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday, a Raipur court sent Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s father Nand Kumar Baghel to 15 days of judicial custody after being arrested from Delhi for reportedly making derogatory remarks against the Brahmin community.
According to the police, Baghel made these remarks while addressing an event in Uttar Pradesh recently.
I am urging all the villagers of India not to let the Brahmins enter your villages; I will talk to every other community so that we can boycott them, his purported comments read.
Angered by these remarks, the Brahmin community held a rally on Saturday to seek action against the 86-year-old. A complaint followed the incident, filed by the Sarv Brahmin Samaj, a Brahmin Organisation.
In the complaint, the organisation stated that Nand Kumar Baghel described Brahmins as “outsiders (foreigners) who should either reform or get ready to go to the Volga from Ganga” and accused Baghel of provoking people to “evict” Brahmins from the country.
As per PTI reports, The Sarv Brahmin Samaj also claimed that the videos of Nand Kumar Baghel’s reputed remarks got circulated on social media.
Based on that complaint, the case was lodged against Nand Kumar Baghel in the DD Nagar Police Station, Raipur, where he got charged with-
- Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and
- 505(1)(b) ( the intent to cause, or to likely cause, fear or alarm to the public, or any section of the people) of the Indian Penal Code.
All of this led to a significant controversy, with many deeming Senior Baghel’s actions hateful and capable of inciting tensions in the nation between different communities.
CM Baghel had criticised his father’s comments and said that his views are different from his father and that no one is above the law in our government, even if he is the Chief Minister’s father.
“I respect my father as a son, but as a Chief Minister, none of his mistakes, which has the potential to disturb public order, can be ignored.”, he said in a statement.
“The remarks have hurt the sentiments of the [Brahmin] class as well as social harmony, and I am also pained by it.”
The Chhattisgarh government cares for every religion, caste and community and their sentiments and gives equal importance to everyone, the CM further says.
The Raipur Police arrested CM’s father and brought him from Delhi to Raipur, Additional Superintendent of Police Tarkeshwar Patel informs.
The police then presented him before a local court in Raipur, which sent him to judicial custody for 15 days.
Gajendra Sonkar, the lawyer representing Senior Baghel, said that he did not apply for bail “as per his instructions”. The next court hearing is due on 21 September.
Nand Kumar Baghel is not affiliated with any political party. However, he is an active figure in demanding the rights of OBCs and farmers.
He constantly is seen speaking up against the upper castes. There have already been similar instances in past where CM Baghel had apologised for his father’s actions.
Though popular public opinion has been quite decisive on this issue, one has to analyse this case by considering the social and political factors and possible loopholes in the system.
