'82 per cent are Hindus in India': Kamal Nath on Hindu Rashtra demand
Bhopal, Aug 8: Senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Kamal Nath on Tuesday asked whether it is needed to say separately that India is a "Hindu Rashtra" given the fact that 82 per cent of Hindus live in the country.
"World's largest Hindu population lives in our country. 82 per cent of Hindus reside here. It is not a debatable issue. It is not something to be told. These are statistics...What is the need to say it separately?" Nath shot back when reporters sought his comment on spiritual preacher Dhirendra Shastri's purported demand to make India a Hindu Rashtra.
The spiritual discourse of Shastri, also known as Bageshwar Dham Sarkar, was organised on Nath's home turf Chhindwara which concluded on Monday.
Nath, a former MP chief minister, alleged the government has failed to prevent atrocities against tribals in Manipur and also in Madhya Pradesh.
"There is a raging dispute between tribals and non-tribals even as the country is going to celebrate the World Tribal Day on August 9," he added.
Nath claimed 15 youths from Anuppur district in MP were thrashed by a private company owner in Gujarat's Rajkot district on the suspicion of theft.
"They were kept as hostages and four of them sustained serious injuries. A video of atrocities against them also went viral," he alleged.
Nath asked MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to list steps taken by him so far regarding the "atrocity" committed against tribal youth in Rajkot.
He accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of failing to protect tribals in MP and cited certain incidents including the alleged gang rape of two ST girls in Rewa district and firing on a tribal youth in Singrauli district.
Queried on Congress MLA Umang Singhar's demand for having a tribal chief minister, Nath said," Ultimately, it's the choice of the people who decide the chief minister and everybody knows this".
The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are due later this year.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
