Rajasthan Police team leaves for Delhi to question Ashis Nandy

New Delhi: Sociologist Ashis Nandy faces police questioning over his Dalit corruption remarks made at the Jaipur Literature Festival. A team of the Rajasthan Police is on its way to the capital to question him, say sources.

The sociologist had said that the most corrupt people in the country were Dalits, backward and oppressed classes. But he later clarified that he was making an academic argument about corruption being an equaliser and that his comment was minsinterpreted.

Nandy had on Tuesday denied receiving any summons from Rajasthan Police and said that he was ready to be jailed for his comment. "If at 75 I am tried under the atrocities act and convicted then I'll go to jail, I'll not contest it because I have worked for Dalits and adivasis for 45 years and I am not going to take this insult. I will go to jail," he said.

An FIR was lodged against him under Section 506 IPC (Criminal Intimidation) and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. During a session at the JLF in Jaipur, Nandy had said that it was a fact that "most of the corrupt come from OBCs and Scheduled Castes and now increasingly the Scheduled Tribes".

Though Nandy later apologised saying that he was sorry if he was "misunderstood", his statement stirred up a controversy inviting reactions from across political parties who condemned his comment and demanded action against him. An all-party delegation, comprising leaders of the MNS, the Shiv Sena, the BJP, the RPI and Dalit organisations - under the banner of the Bahujan Samaj Sangharsh Samiti - had submitted a memorandum to police seeking registration of complaint against the author. The delegation also submitted the petition to Divisional Commissioner Ravindra Jadhav.

Nandy in an interview to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai had said that he said nothing wrong and his statement was pro-Dalit. "I don't feel hounded and frightened because I know if people read the script of what I said, or even see the video they will know that even the statement they are quoting frequently was part of an aggressively pro-Dalit, pro-OBC plea. I did stand by them and I do want to stand by them."

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