CM Shivraj Chouhan washes feet of tribal man who was urinated upon

A video showed Shivraj Singh Chouhan conversing with the man, a 36-year-old tribal from Karaundi, at his official residence in Bhopal

Madhya Pradesh’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday met Dashmat Rawat, a labourer from a tribal community who was urinated upon by another man and washed his feet in a gesture of respect. A video showed Chouhan conversing with the man, a 36-year-old tribal from Karaundi, at his official residence in Bhopal.

Chief minister’s apology

“Dashmat ji, this is an attempt to share your pain, I also apologise to you, for me the public is God," Chouhan told the man during a brief conversation, in which he also asked about his job and his family members. The chief minister also applied tilak on his forehead and garlanded him.

Calling the man “Sudama”, the chief minister said, "Dashmat, now you are my friend." Sudama was a childhood friend of Lord Krishna who was provided with gifts during his days of hardships. The minister also asked if the state welfare schemes were reaching him and his family or not. Earlier, the chief minister and Rawat together planted a sapling at the Smart City Park.

He called up my family and spoke to them, I felt good. I am now returning after meeting him, Rawat said after meeting the chief minister.

Accused arrested

Police on Wednesday arrested Pravesh Shukla, the man who was caught on camera urinating on Rawat in Sidhi district under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). In the video, Shukla can be seen smoking a cigarette while urinating on Dashmat. The video sparked a political row in Madhya Pradesh with the Congress targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the issue, saying Shukla is an associate of Siddhi MLA Kedarnath Shukla. The BJP has denied any association with the accused and has rejected claims that he is a member of the party.

Accused's residence razed

On Wednesday, Shukla's residence was razed using bulldozers on the order of the state government. As the authorities arrived at the accused's house with a bulldozer, his family members said the video was an old one, which has been brought to the forefront as the elections are close.

"It's an old video being circulated for political and electoral reasons," the accused's sister told ANI.

"A video of the atrocity of (a man) urinating on a tribal youth from Sidhi district of the state has surfaced. There is no place for such a heinous act with the youth of the tribal community in civilised society," former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had said earlier.

On Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident and said that atrocities on tribals and Dalits are rising under the BJP rule, The ex-Congress chief said the real face of BJP's hatred towards tribals and Dalits was exposed with the "inhuman act."