BJP is afraid of PDA uniting: Akhilesh Yadav on UP govt order removing caste references

Lucknow, Sep 23 (PTI) After the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the removal of all caste references from police records and public notices following an Allahabad High Court order, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the ruling BJP is afraid of the backwards, dalits and minority communities uniting.

Caste-based rallies and public events with political motives have also been banned across the state, while social media content promoting caste pride or hatred will be closely monitored, officials said on Monday.

Asked about the development, Yadav alleged that under the BJP government, "from police stations to administrative offices, discrimination has taken place on the basis of caste and religion".

"Today, the BJP is afraid of the PDA (backwards, Dalit, and minority) communities uniting," he said.

The PDA stands for Pichda, Dalit, Alpasankhyak (backward, Dalit, minorities), an abbreviation coined by Yadav who constantly cites it in his statements while asserting that these communities will unitedly defeat the BJP.

"Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar himself faced bias because of caste. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia kept speaking all his life about breaking caste barriers, as only then will a just society be formed.

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) too kept struggling for this, and we all kept uniting people. At different times, in the name of Bahujan Samaj, we all came together," Yadav said "Although this is a High Court decision, I believe our first emotional bond is with caste, and no one can deny that," Yadav added.

He also alleged that BJP workers washed a temple in Kannauj after his visit in May and raised questions on the saffron party's intentions.

"No one should break our homes based on caste, no statues should be demolished based on caste... if I walk into a temple, the temple should not be washed with Ganga water because of my caste. We hope that in the future the court will also ensure that caste discrimination ends," Yadav said.

The SP chief had visited the Siddh Baba Gaurishankar Mahadev temple to offer prayers and sought the blessings of the Lord. Subsequently, the BJP workers allegedly washed the temple with the holy Ganga water.

Alleging that the BJP practices the "politics of discrimination", he said, "In this government, from police stations to administrative offices, discrimination has taken place on the basis of caste and religion. The BJP has appointed its own caste-dominated people in police stations, tehsils and other posts. Postings are decided on caste." He alleged that in Gorakhpur, most postings have gone to people of one caste.

"Even in the UP STF, caste is the primary factor. Contracts at the headquarters have also been given to one caste. Only when the court intervened has this government been forced to act," he said.

Referring to the police issuing challans to SP workers who were escorting party leader Azam Khan following his release on bail after two years in jail, he said, "Under BJP rule, discrimination exists at every level. The situation is such that in Sitapur, vehicles with Samajwadi Party flags were fined. Even if an SP vehicle is parked with a flag on it, this government gets it fined." A senior official had said the order, issued to all police units and district administrations late Sunday, has been taken in compliance with a September 16 Allahabad High Court judgement that was aimed at eliminating caste-based discrimination.

Officiating chief secretary Deepak Kumar has instructed that the caste of accused persons should no longer be recorded in police registers, case memos, arrest documents, or displayed on police station notice boards, according to the official order.

"The directive has been issued in compliance with the HC order and is effective immediately," Kumar told PTI.

The state's Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) portal will also be updated to delete caste fields, and until then, officials have been told to leave such fields blank, the order said.

It further mandates that police records include the names of both the father and the mother of an accused, and that caste-based stickers or slogans on vehicles be challaned under the Motor Vehicles Act.

Authorities have also been asked to remove boards or signs in towns and villages that glorify caste identities or mark areas as belonging to a particular caste, the government order said.

Caste-based rallies and public events with political motives have been banned across the state, while social media content promoting caste pride or hatred will be closely monitored. Strict action has been directed against those spreading caste-based enmity online, it stated.

The high court's order in the Praveen Chetri vs State of UP and others case prohibited police from mentioning the caste of accused persons and instructed the state to prevent caste glorification in public and digital spaces. PTI ABN RT RT