Chhattisgarh: Men stage nude protest against fake certificates, detained by police

Raipur, July 18 (IANS) A group of men on Tuesday staged a nude protest in Chhattisgarh’s capital city Raipur against the issuance of alleged fake certificates in the state government jobs.

The protesting men also marched nude towards the state assembly but were detained by the police.

“Earlier, we had done a hunger strike on fake certificate issue. At least 264 people have grabbed government jobs through fake certificates of ST/SC. We are demanding to identify and punish them all,” one of protesters leading the nude march said.

He said they have stage the nude demonstration to grab the attention of the people and the government.

“Fake certificates of ST/SC were submitted. We have been raising this issue for the last several months but received no response, which is why, we decided this nude march and we are going to the state assembly,” the man leading the march added.

IANS has learnt that the men who participated in the march were from SC/ST communities and they marched nude in Naya Raipur to grab the attention of the government and media as the assembly session was on run.

However, Chhattisgarh police took them into custody when they were marching towards the state legislative assembly. The protesters were taken into custody near Ama Seoni turn under Pandri police station area for staging a demonstration in an obscene manner, Raipur senior superintendent of police Prashant Agrawal told the press.

The protest stunned passersby who shot videos of the naked men marching and shouting slogans on the road and shared it on social media. The shocking video also grabbed nationwide attention.

Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP IT cell also tweeted the video and wrote, “Amidst the monsoon session of Chhattisgarh Vidhansabha which began today, SC/ST youths demonstrated naked on the streets of the capital, demanding action against those employed with fake caste certificates. Congress and Bhupesh Baghel have once again done the work of cheating SC ST society.”

Notably, the assembly election in Chhattisgarh is will be held later this year. Though the demand to act on fake caste certificates is not new, this is the first time that such a protest has been held in the state.