'Govt is heartless, undemocratic': Akhilesh Yadav on Etawah tonsuring incident

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday condemned the alleged tonsuring of two religious preachers, including one from the Yadav caste, by "upper caste men" and said the state government as unjust, heartless and undemocratic.

Yadav held a press conference on Tuesday at party headquarters here, calling on the government to take strict action against those involved in the incident.

A purported video of the incident shows the victims being abused with casteist slurs and threatened after the two 'katha vachaks' (narrator of holy texts) and had gone to Dandarpur village for a 'Bhagwat Katha'.

After the video of the tonsuring went viral on social media, police arrested four persons on Monday.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Etawah, Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said a video showed some villagers "misbehaving with the 'katha vachaks' and cutting their hair despite their unwillingness.

The incident of tonsuring took place on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Reacting to the incident, Yadav, without taking any names, said, "What is this attitude of the government, what is the government doing? I have said that this on many occasions that the government is heartless and undemocratic, and it supports every unconstitutional act."

इटावा के बकेवर इलाके के दान्दरपुर गांव में भागवत कथा के दौरान कथावाचक और उनके सहायकों की जाति पूछने पर पीडीए की एक जाति बताने पर, कुछ वर्चस्ववादी और प्रभुत्ववादी लोगों ने साथ अभद्र व्यवहार करते हुए उनके बाल कटवाए, नाक रगड़वाई और इलाके की शुद्धि कराई।

हमारा संविधान जातिगत भेदभाव… pic.twitter.com/Pr11ohEp59

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) June 23, 2025

He said if the government were to follow the Constitution and its preamble then poor people living in villages, people from PDA -- 'pichchde' or backward, Dalit and 'alpsankhyak' or minorities -- families "would start getting justice".

"People sitting in the government are constantly being unjust. Those dominant, supremacist people are constantly intimidating, threatening and humiliating the people of the PDA families," Yadav said.

Challenging the notion of exclusivity in religious practices, Yadav asked, "The question is, Bhagwat Katha is for everyone, if everyone can listen, why can't everyone speak? Bhagwat Katha is related to Lord Krishna. If true devotees of Krishna are stopped from narrating Katha...why would anyone tolerate this insult?"

Some "dominant and supremacist people" want to maintain their monopoly over Bhagwat Katha and have turned it into a business, the MP from Kannauj said.

The "disgraceful" Etawah incident happened because of such people, he said.

Yadav said, "If there is so much prejudice against the people of PDA families, then let them declare that they will never accept their offerings and donations.

"And if you want to have a monopoly -- you claim from time to time that you have abolished Article 370 -- then bring a law in the country that only you are allowed to be 'katha vachak'." He said people are "mentally harassing and humiliating" PDA families, sometimes by "sprinkling Ganga water" on homes and temples and now even shaving heads.

In a post on X, the SP chief the Constitution does not allow caste discrimination.

"...this is a crime committed against the fundamental right to live with dignity and respect. All the accused should be immediately arrested, and a case should be registered under appropriate sections." If strict action is not taken within the next 3 days, we will call for a major movement to ‘protect the dignity and honor of PDA.' Nothing is greater than the honor of PDA!" he posted in Hindi.