New Delhi (Agency): A group of men in Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, staged a striking protest against the supposed issuance of false certificates for government jobs on Tuesday. These men, seeking to draw attention to their cause, bared it all and marched towards the state assembly, only to be stopped by the local police.
A protest leader explained the reason behind their unconventional demonstration, saying, “Earlier we had done a hunger strike on the 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.”
He further justified the drastic measure, pointing out their failure to garner any attention or response from authorities in their previous attempts. “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,” he added.
It has come to light that the protesters were from SC/ST communities. Their audacious march in Naya Raipur was timed to coincide with the ongoing assembly session, clearly aimed at grabbing both governmental and media attention.
Despite their sincere motives, the Chhattisgarh police intervened and took the men into custody. They were detained near Ama Seoni turn, under the jurisdiction of the Pandri police station. Prashant Agrawal, the senior superintendent of police in Raipur, informed the press that the protesters were held for “staging a demonstration in an obscene manner.”
The spectacle definitely did not go unnoticed. Passersby were taken aback, some capturing videos of the naked men marching and chanting slogans. These videos quickly made their way to social media, and the unusual protest grabbed nationwide attention.
BJP IT cell’s in-charge, Amit Malviya, also commented on the situation, posting one of the videos with a remark criticizing the Congress and Bhupesh Baghel, alleging they had cheated the SC ST society.
Interestingly, this protest comes at a critical time when Chhattisgarh is preparing for assembly elections later this year. The issue of fake caste certificates being used for employment is not a new concern. However, this is the first time such an attention-grabbing protest has been conducted in the state, bringing a renewed focus on the problem.
