The Hyderabad police have booked Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda underneath the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for an alleged derogatory assertion he made on tribals at a public occasion.
The actor allegedly made the feedback throughout a promotional occasion for a movie in April this yr. Within the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist assault, he likened Pakistan to a tribal group on the occasion.
The Tribal Welfare Affiliation of Telangana referenced the remark and filed a criticism at Hyderabad’s Raidurgam police station towards Deverakonda on June 17.
“The criticism was studied and case booked as it’s a severe offence to go disparaging remarks towards any caste or tribe,” a Telangana police official advised the Indian Specific.
On Sunday, Deverakonda issued a public apology and clarification. He wrote, “The phrase tribe, as I used it, was meant within the historic and dictionary sense – referring to a time centuries in the past when human society globally was organised into tribes and clans, typically in battle. It was by no means a reference to the Scheduled Tribes classification, which was launched throughout colonial and post-colonial India and formalised solely within the mid-Twentieth century – not even 100 years in the past.”
“There was no intention to harm or goal any group, particularly our Scheduled Tribes, who I deeply respect and contemplate an integral a part of our nation,” he wrote. “If any a part of my message was misunderstood or hurtful, I categorical my honest remorse. My solely intention was to talk of peace, progress, and togetherness. I stay dedicated to utilizing my platform to uplift and unify — by no means to divide.”
Deverakonda, among the many highest-paid actors within the Telugu movie trade, rose to prominence after starring because the lead in Pelli Choopulu (2016) and Arjun Reddy (2017). In 2019, he launched his personal manufacturing home referred to as King of the Hill Leisure.