‘Baseless’ but ‘unconditionally’ apologises anyway: Sudhir on backlash to Adivasi comments

A day after reports of a police complaint against Aaj Tak anchor Sudhir Chaudhary over his remarks purportedly questioning Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s tribal identity and  rights under the SC/ST Act, Chaudhary has called the allegations “baseless”. 

In a statement on X, responding to “all the hateful posts” directed towards him, the anchor said he is “pained” over the “baseless” accusations of “insulting tribals”. He said criticising Soren does “not tantamount to insult of tribals”. 

In the statement issued on Saturday in both Hindi and English, Chaudhary said his show was focused on how “rich” politicians “misused tribal votes”. He also emphasised that a short clip shared by those with “vested interests” had “changed the context” to give out a “misleading” message.  

Finally, Chaudhary also apologised. He said, “If I have intentionally hurt their (adivasi brothers and sisters), I unconditionally apologise to them.”   

During his primetime show Black and White on January 31, the day Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, Chaudhary said Soren and his family were not “Adivasis” as they lived in “big bungalows”.   

He also drew parallels between Soren’s night in jail and the tribals living in forests, saying it would be like “going back by 20, 30, 40 years like an Adivasi to the jungle”. 

Read all about it here. 

This report was published with AI assistance.

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