Madhya Pradesh Comedian Nalin Yadav Alleges Harassment By ‘Ruling Party Affiliates’, BJP Denies Claims

Comedian Nalin Yadav from Madhya Pradesh has alleged that he and his brother have been harassed by affiliates of the ruling party for the past three years.

Comedian Nalin Yadav from Madhya Pradesh has accused "some known affiliates of the ruling party" of harassing him and his younger brother for the past three years. However, the BJP denied these allegations on Tuesday, calling it a ploy to gain cheap popularity. The 28-year-old comedian's claim follows a notice issued against him by the administration related to a case filed two months ago over a dispute with a person in Pithampur, 40 km from Dhar district.

This notice has been issued by an executive magistrate under Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) Section 107 (requiring to show cause why he should not be ordered to execute a bond with a surety) for maintaining peace.

Pithampur resident Nalin Yadav was one of four people detained on January 1, 2021, over a complaint of hurting religious sentiments. Along with Yadav, comedian Munawar Faruqui, was detained for allegedly making, offensive comments based on Hindu deities during a comedy show at an Indore cafe.

The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court granted Nalin Yadav interim bail on February 26, 2021.

Nalin Yadav on Monday posted a video of him and his brother being assaulted. The video was captioned, "In my hometown, I have a new identity as an anti-nationalist. There are a few people who are relatives and known affiliates of the ruling party, who have been harassing my brother and me for three years now. After getting released from jail, I haven't been home for more than three days in two years because some of the goons here were continuously harassing us."

BJP Denies Nalin Yadav's Allegation, Claims False Propaganda

BJP leader Alok Dubey said the comedian was carrying out false propaganda against his party in an effort to get cheap publicity through social media platforms.

Police officials said that on March 24 this year, Yadav was allegedly attacked in Pithampur over an "old enmity". The accused was identified as one Sawan Singh Dabar. An FIR was filed against Dabar on charges of assault, abuse, and issuing threats. Dabar lodged a counter-complaint of assault against Yadav, they said.

Due to the ongoing tension between Yadav and Dabar over the incident, the police have issued a notice to both parties asking them to keep the peace.

Yadav's lawyer Ashar Warsi stated that legal options were being considered against the notice issued in the name of the comedian.

Previously, on several occasions, Nalin Yadav's younger brother Akash was assaulted by locals Uday Raghuvanshi and Krishna Thakur. Later, an FIR was registered against locals on November 21, 2023, at Pithampur's Sector Number-1 police station.

The comedian has claimed that different people from the same group were constantly harassing him and his younger brother in the Pithampur area.