Tonsuring row: UP Police transfers case from Etawah to Jhansi

Yogi-Akhilesh trade barbs

Etawah: Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday transferred the probe into two cases related to the alleged caste-based assault and tonsuring of a non-Brahmin preacher and his aide from Etawah to Jhansi, citing "sensitivity" of the matter.

The development comes amid an uneasy calm in Dandarpur village in the Bakewar area of Etawah, a day after a violent faceoff between a group of protestors -- who demanded that the case against the katha vachak (preacher) and his aide be taken back - and the police.

During the faceoff, unidentified people pelted security personnel with stones while some of the officers brandished their firearms in the air in an apparent measure to back off the aggressive protestors, who had laid siege to the local Bakewar police station. Around 20 people were detained by the police.

Additional Director General of Police (Kanpur Zone) Alok Singh on Friday ordered the transfer of the cases.

"In view of the sensitivity of the incident related to Police Station Bakewar, Etawah, the investigations of cases are transferred by the Additional Director General of Police, Kanpur Zone, Kanpur to Jhansi Range, Jhansi with immediate effect," the police said in a post on X.

The FIR lodged by the victims - religious preacher Mukut Mani Yadav and his assistant Sant Singh Yadav - was filed under BNS sections 115(2), 309(2), and 351(1)/352 (voluntarily causing hurt, robbery, and criminal intimidation). In contrast, a counter-FIR filed against the duo includes serious charges such as deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings, impersonation, cheating, and forgery under BNS sections 299, 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, and 340(2).

The controversy stems from an incident that occurred on the intervening night of June 22 and 23, when the two Bhagwat Katha preachers were allegedly assaulted and tonsured in Dandarpur village by a group of upper-caste men. A video of the incident went viral, showing the accused purportedly telling the victims, "You are getting punished for coming to the village of Brahmins." Sant Singh Yadav alleged that he was interrogated about his caste, forced to show identification, then humiliated, tonsured, and subjected to degrading treatment including being sprinkled with urine.

Four men - Ashish Tiwari, Uttam Kumar Awasthi, Nikki Awasthi, and Manu Dubey - were arrested shortly after the video emerged.

Following widespread protests and rising political temperature, the rural parts of Etawah, especially Dandarpur in Bakewar area, remain tense. Panic has gripped the village after a violent face-off between protestors and police earlier this week.

A large number of residents have reportedly left their homes to take refuge with relatives.

"The situation is under control now," Superintendent of Police (Rural) Shrish Chandra told PTI. "Adequate force has been deployed in and around the village and on all access points to ensure peace." Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, during an event in Lucknow, slammed the previous Samajwadi Party government in the state, accusing it of ignoring the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector while keeping the state trapped in caste-based conflicts and nepotism for political gains.

"Before 2017, UP was known for riots, mafia networks, and being one of the most unsafe states for daughters and traders. The only achievement of previous governments was instigating caste clashes and nurturing one mafia per district under the guise of family rule," he said.

Adityanath's scathing but indirect remarks at the SP trailed Akhilesh Yadav’s stinging social media earlier in the day, wherein he strongly condemned the Etawah incident, calling it part of a larger conspiracy to disturb social harmony in Uttar Pradesh.

In a post on X, he alleged that the ruling BJP was sending "planted elements" from neighbouring states with "strategic surnames" to instigate caste-based strife.

"The BJP is deploying its 'planted people'... to carry out its infiltrative politics," Yadav claimed.

He questioned why BJP's central leadership did not trust its own cadre in Uttar Pradesh, saying, "Is there not even one BJP leader here who can be trusted?" Rallying support under his party's PDA (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank, Yadav said the Etawah incident has become a rallying point for marginalised communities. "The entire PDA society is standing with every victim of what I call the 'Etawah PDA insult incident'," he said, adding that the movement is not about revenge but a transformation in social mindset.

Amid the controversy, the Kashi Vidvat Parishad, a prominent council of Sanskrit scholars and Hindu theologians, issued a clear statement asserting that all Hindus, regardless of caste, have the right to narrate the Bhagavad Katha.

"In Sanatan Dharma, the right to speak about the Bhagavat belongs to every Hindu. No one has the authority to deny this," said Prof. Ramnarayan Dwivedi, general secretary of the Parishad.

He cited revered historical figures such as Maharishi Valmiki, Ved Vyasa, and Sant Ravidas as examples of non-Brahmins who earned immense spiritual respect due to their wisdom and conduct.

The Vice Chancellor of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Prof. Bihari Lal Sharma, echoed this sentiment, stating that "knowledge does not differentiate based on caste; it treats everyone equally." He emphasised that those learned in scriptures and of pure conduct deserve to be regarded as Pandits.