Dehradun: The arrest of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s father Nand Kumar Baghel Tuesday for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Brahmins is just the latest in a series of controversies that the octogenarian has courted over the years.
Nand Kumar, 86, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Agra for allegedly calling for a boycott of all Brahmins, terming them as foreigners, while on a tour of the state. He was presented before the Raipur court and was sent to judicial custody till 21 September. According to his lawyer, Nand Kumar did not apply for bail.
CM Baghel, meanwhile, stressed that he had nothing to do with his father’s statement and called for the law to take its own course.
After his father was charged in the FIR Saturday, Baghel had said, “Nobody is above the law in my government, even if he is the Chief Minister’s 86-year-old father. As Chief Minister, I have the responsibility to maintain harmony among different communities. If he made a remark against a community, I am sorry. Legal action will be taken.”
But this is not new to Baghel, the CM has had to clarify Nand Kumar’s statements several times in the past and, according to those close to the Baghel family, this is the reason behind the estrangement of the father-son duo.
Those who know the Baghel family well told ThePrint that father and son have not been living together for more than 20 years and they never shared a public platform in all that time.
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Progressive farmer, anti-caste crusader
A native of the Kurud-di village in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh, Nand Kumar has always been vocal against casteism in the Hindu community.
Considered to be a progressive farmer by those close to him, advocacy for the causes of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Class communities has been a way of life for the 86-year-old.
This has often led him into several controversies, the earliest of which can be traced to 2001 when he authored a book titled Brahman Kumar Rawan ko Mat Marro. The book had called for an end to the burning of effigies of Ravana, the demon king who was slayed by Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana as part of Dussehra celebrations.
The book caused a public outcry in Chhattisgarh and the then state government, led by Ajit Jogi, was forced to ban it.
He even appealed to the Chhattisgarh HC against the ban but after a prolonged 17-year-old legal battle, the court dismissed his petition.
Nand Kumar’s anti-caste stance became more pronounced after he embraced Buddhism in the late 1970s.
According to Lakhan Verma, a local journalist close to the Baghel family, “We can say that his statements against casteism and Hindutva became more harsh after he embraced Buddhism.
“He reads lots of religious books and…his socio-religious thoughts got prominence only in the last 20 years.”
Nand Kumar has never actively participated in politics, just contesting state elections once in the 1980s as an Independent candidate but failed to win.
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Rift between father and son
CM Baghel, it is believed, has been trying to persuade his father against making unwanted and provocative statements.
“The chief minister tried speaking to his father and persuaded him on several occasions but the latter categorically refused to accept it. Nand Kumar Baghel clearly told Bhupesh that he speaks what he believes and will not accept what others say. This is the basic reason of conflict between the duo” said a villager from Kurud-di, who knows the Baghels well.
Consequently, Baghel is often forced to clarify his stance vis a vis his father’s statements.
In one such instance, Nand Kumar had written to the Congress leadership in 2018, ahead of the assembly elections, and asked them to give 85 per cent of the party tickets to SC-ST-OBC candidates and not to Brahmins, Thakurs and Banias.
Baghel was the PCC chief at the time and had to issue a statement clarifying that his father was not a primary member of the party and his letter to the central leadership was, therefore, meaningless.
The rift between the father and son also extended to their personal religious beliefs.
Verma noted that in 2019, when Nand Kumar’s wife passed away, he wanted to perform her last rites according to Buddhist norms but the CM objected and his mother’s last rites were finally conducted according to Hindu beliefs.
However, despite the very evident friction between the two, Nand Kumar calls himself the “proud father” of Bhupesh Baghel in his Facebook and Twitter profiles.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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