- Controversy over Hamara Prasad's Telugu book Kalpitha Nayakudu has intensified in Telangana
- Dalit groups protested, demanding the author's arrest and a halt to the book's publication
- Book allegedly criticises Dr BR Ambedkar's legacy with anti-national and anti-Hindu claims
A controversy over activist and author Hamara Prasad's Telugu book Kalpitha Nayakudu (The Fabricated Leader) has intensified across Telangana, with Dalit and Ambedkarite organisations staging protests and demanding his immediate arrest and a halt to the book's publication.
The approximately 730-page book, authored by Nagularapu Vara Prasad alias Hamara Prasad, has drawn objections over its title and its reported treatment of Dr BR Ambedkar's legacy.
Reports on the book's promotional material say it examines Ambedkar through references to "anti-national" and "anti-Hindu" positions and separatism.
Prasad has said his work seeks to challenge personality cults and present what he describes as the "real history" of the country.
The controversy has triggered demonstrations in several Telangana districts.
In Asifabad, Dalit organisations took out a rally on Thursday from Lumbini Deeksha Bhoomi to Ambedkar Chowk and burnt an effigy of Prasad. Similar protests and effigy-burning were reported in Indravelli and Nirmal, where protesters demanded immediate legal action against him.
Complaints have also been filed with the police in different locations.
In Dubbaka of Medak district, Telangana Mala Mahanadu leaders approached the police seeking action over what they described as objectionable remarks about Ambedkar.
At Tadwai in Kamareddy district, Ambedkar Association members submitted a written complaint demanding Prasad's arrest.
The controversy has also reached the Telangana High Court. In response to a petition seeking to stall the release of the book on the grounds that it could lead to public disorder and promote enmity between communities, the Telangana government has told the court that the author had been arrested in a case registered over the book's alleged defamatory and derogatory content.
The dispute follows a 2023 controversy involving Prasad, when Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested him after a video containing provocative remarks about Ambedkar circulated on social media.
