NHRC takes cognisance of Etawah tonsuring incident, Akhilesh calls it ‘attack on PDA’

Four accused have been arrested and sent to jail after an FIR was registered in the matter, police said.

Also, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident as an attack on PDA (Pichhde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) and felicitated the two men at the party office in Lucknow.

The accused were identified as Nikki Awasthi, 30, Pratham Dubey, 24, Ashish Tiwari, 21 and Uttam Awasthi, 19.

The alleged incident took place at Dadarpur village on Saturday (June 21) after the villagers objected to the kathavachak, Mukut Munni, identifying himself as a Brahmin.

The NHRC sought the action taken report from the Etawah Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) on the basis of a complaint filed by Bhopal-based Dr Ambedkar Jankalyan Samiti, which alleged the religious speaker and his associate from backward class were assaulted, their heads tonsured and human urine was thrown at them.

Also, they were forced to rub their nose at the feet of a woman and their instruments were damaged, it was alleged.

“The allegations made in the complaint prima facie seem to be a serious violation of human rights of the victims,” the commission observed in its notice.

Mukut Munni said the incident took place after he informed the villagers about his caste.

In a press statement, the police said the social media team at the police headquarters on Monday evening received a tweet through X, in which a video of tonsuring of a kathavachak was attached. Taking cognizance of the tweet, it was forwarded to Etawah district for necessary action, they said.

SSP Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said, “A video of villagers misbehaving with two individuals and cutting their hair against their will surfaced. The accused were identified with the help of the video.”

Claiming it was an attack on PDA, Akhilesh Yadav said, “Members of the PDA family are being intimidated. If Bhagwat Katha is for everyone to listen to then everyone can recite it as well. Bhagwat Katha is related to Lord Krishna and if his true followers would be stopped from reciting it then we will not tolerate this disrespect.”

The SP chief alleged that some people want to have a monopoly on the recitation of kathas, saying, “If such people have hostility towards PDA then they should stop taking donations from the community.”

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister Jaiveer Singh said unnecessary hype should not be given to the incident as the accused have been arrested.

“I believe that caste has no privilege over merit and efficiency. One can do anything based on their ability. The incident is unfortunate. An FIR has been registered against the accused. There is no need to give this incident a political turn as no injustice towards anyone would be done under this government,” the minister said, claiming that Akhilesh “sees PDA in everything”.