Ashis Nandy who caused an uproar after he made a statement that was construed as being offensive to SC/ST and OBC people, has left the Jaipur Literature Festival.
At a panel discussion at the Festival, Nandy said, “Most corrupt people come from OBC, SC and ST communities”.
Ashis Nandy is wrong – but he has a right to be. PTI
Journalist Ashutosh, the editor of IBN 7, who was among the panelists, and most members from the audience took strong exception to the statement.
Meanwhile police who have booked cases against Nandy and festival organiser Sanjoy Roy, have seized video footage of the session and will also record statements from them both. It is not immediately clear if Nandy made his statement to police prior to leaving the city.
Nandy saw an outpouring of rage against him, as well as calls for his arrest, and the filing on an FIR under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A police official said that offences under the act are non bailable, and the author faces upto 10 years in jail if found guilty.
Speaking to Firstpost editors Sandip Roy and Lakshmi Chaudhry who are at JLF, Nandy attempted to clarify, saying “What I said was that most of those caught for corruption come from these three sectors because the upper castes and the rich and the powerful have better ways of protecting themselves, better ways of hiding their corruption.” (Read the whole interview here)
