Vijay Deverakonda Booked Under SC/ST Act Over His Controversial Remarks About Tribal Community At Hyderabad Event
Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda sparked controversy after a police complaint was filed against him in May for allegedly making derogatory comments about the tribal community during the pre-release event of the movie Retro on April 26 in Hyderabad. The latest update is that a case has now been registered against him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for his controversial remarks, police said on Sunday.
The case has been registered at the Raidurgam Police Station in Cyberabad, based on a complaint filed by Nenavath Ashok Kumar Naik, the State President of the Joint Action Committee of Tribal Communities. According to police, Vijay compared the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam to tribal wars from 500 years ago while speaking at the event. "The actor made comments in April. However, based on a complaint a case underSC/ST Act was booked against him on June 17," a police official told PTI.
According to the police FIR, the remarks made by Deverakonda were seen as a serious insult to the self-respect and dignity of the tribal community. As a result, the complainant requested that necessary legal action be taken against the actor.
What Vijay Deverakonda said
At the event, Vijay talked about Pahalgam incident in Kashmir, stating, "The solution to what is happening in Kashmir is also to educate them (terrorists) and ensure they don’t get brainwashed. What will they achieve? Kashmir belongs to India, and Kashmiris are ours."
"India doesn’t even need to attack Pakistan because Pakistanis themselves are fed up with their government and will attack them if this continues. They behave like tribals did 500 years ago, fighting without common sense," added the actor.
Vijay Deverakonda issues apology
On May 3, Vijay took to his X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "It has come to my attention that a remark I made during the Retro audio launch event has caused concern among some members of the public. I wish to sincerely clarify: there was absolutely no intention to hurt or target any community, especially our Scheduled Tribes, who I deeply respect and consider an integral part of our country."
The Arjun Reddy actor clarified that the word "tribe" he used was intended in the historical and dictionary sense, referring to a time centuries ago when human societies worldwide were organised into tribes and clans, often in conflict, and not in reference to the Scheduled Tribes classification, which was introduced during colonial and post-colonial India and formalized only in the mid-20th century—less than 100 years ago.
On the work front, Vijay will be next seen in Kingdom. The film, which was supposed to be released on May 30, 2025, will now arrive in theatres on July 4, 2025.
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