Video of man urinating on tribal sparks political war in MP; accused said to be BJP MLA rep

A controversy erupted in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after a video showing a man urinating on a tribal man in Sidhi district has gone viral.

There are claims, supported by photographs and news reports, that the accused, Pravesh Shukla, is or has been a representative of Sidhi BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla. However, the state BJP as well as the MLA denied any association with the accused.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress launched an all-out attack against the ruling BJP, following which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed the Sidhi administration “to arrest the culprit, take serious action and also to impose NSA (National Security Act provisions)” on the accused.

The office of Sidhi superintendent of police, Ravindra Verma, tweeted to say, “Taking seriously the video going viral on social media in which a person is urinating on the person sitting in front of him while smoking a cigarette and after verifying the video, case under relevant sections of IPC and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been registered against accused Pravesh Shukla, a resident of Kubri. Action under NSA is also being initiated against him and different teams have been sent out to arrest the accused.”

According to sources, the video is three months old. The accused, Pravesh Shukla, urinated on a Kol tribal man, who worked with Shukla and was demanding his wages. Rawat is also said to be mentally unstable. There are reports that Shukla was in an inebriated condition when he engaged in the obnoxious act and asked his friends to film it. He also later filed a complaint against this friend, accusing him of abduction and blackmailing, but these complaints were found false as Shukla was found going online from neighbouring Satna district. The video went viral on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Opposition Congress took up the issue, state president Kamal Nath, chief of tribal department Ramu Tekam, chief of MP Youth Congress Vikrant Bhuria (also a tribal), chief of Congress media department K.K. Mishra and other leaders demanded strict action against the accused.

“A video of the brutality of urinating on a tribal youth from Sidhi district of the state has come to the fore. There is no place in a civilized society for such a heinous and fallen act with the youth of the tribal society. It is alleged that the person urinating is said to be associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Madhya Pradesh is already number one in tribal atrocities. This incident has put the entire Madhya Pradesh to shame. I demand from the chief minister that strictest punishment should be given to the guilty person and the atrocities on tribals in Madhya Pradesh should be ended,” Nath said.

Tekam and Bhuria referred to the accused as a representative of BJP MLA Kedarnath Shukla and a BJP member and said the incident showed the anti-tribal mentality of the BJP.

Mishra posted an image of an affidavit dated July 3 on Twitter where the alleged victim said the video was false, accusing the ‘influential people’ of forcing him to make the affidavit.

Meanwhile, MLA Shukla issued a statement on social media saying, “A video is going viral on social media in which a person is being described as my representative. That person is neither a BJP office bearer nor my MLA representative and I have nothing to do with that person.”

BJP state media in-charge Ashish Agarwal also issued a statement saying, “The person named Pravesh Shukla has nothing to do with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Bharatiya Janata Party will always oppose every heinous act that is done against the tribal society. BJP MP demands strictest action against this person.”

Mishra however questioned Agarwal’s claims by posting an image of a congratulatory poster wherein Pravesh Shukla identifies himself as a representative of Sidhi MLA.

Later, the MP Congress Twitter handle also posted an alleged BJP membership card of Pravesh Shukla and a news item mentioning his appointment as Sidhi MLA representative, calling BJP leaders (denying the association) as liers.