FIR filed against Nandy over corruption comment at JLF

Despite his explanation and apology if he had offended anyone with his comments at the Jaipur Literature Fest, a case has been registered against author Ashis Nandy in Jaipur for his statement about scheduled castes and corruption.A case has been registered against Ashish Nandy under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a police official said, adding that it was a non bailable offence and the author faces upto 10 years in jail if found guilty."We will investigate the case and then take action accordingly," the official said.[caption id="attachment_603113" align="alignleft" width="380"] The author has issued a clarification for his statement. PTI[/caption]There were also a small group of protesters at the Jaipur Literature Festival who protested against the author's statement.The author issued a clarification after outcry over his statements while part of a panel in the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival."This is not what I meant or what I wanted to say. This was what I actually said: I endorsed the statement of Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal that corruption in India is an equaliser in our society. I do believe that zero corruption society in India, as I gave the example of Singapore, will be a despotic society," Nandy said in his clarification statement.He maintained that he has spoken in favour of the down-trodden in the session on ‘Republic of Ideas’ at the Jaipur Literature Festival."I said in the talk that people like me... want to be corrupt, we can possibly send son to Harvard.... It will look like we are supporting talent. It won’t look corruption."But when Dalits, tribals and OBC are corrupt, it looks very corrupt indeed. However this second corruption equlalises," he said, adding "It gives them access to entitlements. And as long as this equation persists, I have hope for the republic (of India)."He said he was sorry "if some have misunderstood (his comments). I am sorry if anyone is genuinely hurt because of misunderstanding."However, he didn’t apologise for his statement, saying he has supported the communities all his life. "I don’t apologise at all because I was actually supporting the cause of minorities and oppressed people. I have supported them all my life."As should be clear from my statement, there was neither any intention nor any attempt to hurt any community, he said.(with inputs from PTI)