MP Brahmin Bodies Back Peegate Accused Amid Tribal’s Identity Row

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Peegate episode has become a sad joke of conflicting versions, claims and counterclaims. Brahmin organisations have supported the accused and slammed the state government for demolishing his house.

A fresh controversy erupted on Sunday when a new video of Kol tribal Dashmat Rawat (36) showed him claiming that “he was not in the (viral) video” that showed state BJP worker Pravesh Shukla urinating on him.

After the media showed the video, the opposition Congress accused chief minister (CM) Shivraj Singh Chouhan of washing someone else’s feet. “I was pained to see that video [urination]. I apologise to you. People are like God to me,” Chouhan is seen telling Rawat in the video and washing his feet on July 6. 

A photo was also shared on Twitter alleging that the man in the video did not match Rawat.  

Rawat, a daily wager, made conflicting statements after meeting Chouhan. In one video, he sought Shukla’s release

as he is the “pandit ji of his village and has been punished enough”.

Shukla was arrested under the IPC, Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the stringent National Security Act, and an alleged illegal portion of his house in Sidhi was demolished.

A few hours later, in another video, he sought police protection fearing backlash from villagers. Another video showed Rawat saying he couldn’t comment as he didn’t remember the incident.

Newsclick contacted Rawat’s wife Asha and Sidhi superintendent of police Ravindra Verma to verify the claim that he wasn’t in the video.

“The man in the video is my husband. I can identify him from his clothes and hair. He never mentioned the incident, which turned out to be three years old, as he was drunk and couldn’t remember it. But when Pravesh Shukla confessed to the police, he nodded,” Asha said over the phone.

She added, “The police lodged an FIR, arrested him and demolished his home. We never complain about it. I request the government to protect my family and husband,” she said.

While Verma, who tweeted on July 9 rubbishing the claim, said, “The man seen in the video is Dashmat Rawat. The news spread by channels is misleading and baseless.”

Kols are the largest tribe in Vidhya region with a population of 12 lakh, according to the 2011 Census. But the region is dominated by Thakurs and Brahmins. The marginalised Kols largely depend on upper-caste communities and government schemes to make a living.

Thakurs are traditionally Congress voters because of their association with veteran Congress leader and former CM Arjun Singh.

Brahmins are largely BJP supporters. Shukla, was allegedly associated with sitting BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla, who refuted it when his photos with him triggered controversy.

Kols also play the kingmaker’s role in the region. Their inclination decides the fate of political parties. With the help of Kol voters, the BJP managed to win 24 out of 30 seats in the region in 2018 Assembly election and the party is working hard to keep their support intact in the forthcoming polls.  

The Brahmin community openly criticised the government for demolishing a part of Shukla’s home. Extending the community’s support to Shukla’s family, Akhil Bhartiya Brahman Samaj state president Pandit Pushpendra Mishra, in a letter dated July 6, criticised the demolition and assured assistance to the family.

“The community strongly condemns Pravesh’s act but punishing someone else for another person’s actions isn't right. We will go to High Court against the demolition,” the letter read. The letter also mentions that Rs 51,000 was given to Shukla’s family via crowdfunding.

The Akhil Bharatiya Brahman Mahasabha held a rally in Sidhi on Monday before submitting a memorandum to the district collector against the demolition.

During the rally, Mahasabha national president Kuldeep Bharadwaj made a controversial remark, “Urinating is not a crime. It happened under the influence of alcohol.”

He added, “The home of Pravesh Shukla’s uncle was also demolished. What was his crime? They are the real victims but the CM is only washing Dashmat’s feet.”

Targeting the BJP, he said, “Will BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla raise the issue of demolition in the Assembly? Will Singrauli BJP MP Riti Pathak raise this issue in Parliament?”

Social workers and locals also supported Shukla. A theatre artist from Sidhi, Avinash Tiwari, and his brother have composed a four-minute video song opposing the demolition to garner public support for the Shukla family. 

The song Mat todo ghar mera was written from the perspective of Shukla’s father. “Why punish the family for what Shukla did? His sister kept requesting the CM not to make her homeless. But the administration did not relent,” Tiwari told Newsclick over the phone.

The video has been shared more than 1,000 times and viewed by nearly 2 lakh people since it was uploaded on Facebook late Friday. 

A day after the Akhil Bhartiya Brahman Samaj state unit supported Shukla, BJP’s Sidhi district general secretary Vivek Kol quit the party slamming Kedarnath Shukla.

The 30-year-old tribal leader, who joined the party in May 2021 and runs an NGO called Bhavishya Foundation to educate kids from marginalised communities, is a civil services aspirant and unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election from Churhat seat on a BSP ticket.

“I was pained by the incident and lost appetite and sleep. After a meeting of elders (tribal leaders) over the incident, we have decided to give a wide berth to the saffron party as sitting MLA Kedarnath Shukla is working against the community,” he told Newsclick.

Kol said that he had “mailed his resignation to MP BJP chief VD Sharma on Friday. I have posted it in the BJP’s office-bearers’ WhatsApp group. The party has not asked me to take back my resignation”.

In the resignation letter, Kol said that he was hurt by Kedarnath Shukla’s act in the past two years, including the alleged encroachment of tribal land and other atrocities in Sidhi. Now, his alleged representative has urinated on a tribal man, which has distressed him, Kol wrote. 

The BJP has maintained that the Shukla had no link to the MLA. Sidhi BJP district president Devkumar Singh couldn’t be contacted for a comment on Kol’s resignation.

(With PTI inputs)