The Lucknow Police has registered a case of forgery on a letter floating around on social media, written on the official pad of a BJP MLA, asking about what action has been taken on cases registered against politicians in the last three years.
The letter, purportedly written by Devmani Dwivedi, an MLA from Lambhua (Sultanpur), lists 17 politicians from the ruling BJP and other parties against whom various cases have been registered. The letter claims various cases have been filed against leaders, including Brijesh Singh (independent MLC), against whom “106 cases” are pending; Dhanjanjay Singh (former MP), who faces 40 cases; Raghuraj Pratap Singh (independent MLA) with 32 cases and Abhay Singh (MLA from Samajwadi Party) who faces 49 cases, according to the letter. The common thread in these names is that all persons named in it belong to the Kshatriya caste—to which also belongs Yogi Adityanath, the state’s chief minister.
The letter gains significance in light of the recent allegation that the chief minister and his government are anti-Brahmin. This is not a new accusation but has re-surfaced with greater strength in the last few months. And it is not just Brahmins who are claiming that. Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is also the state in-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party, has added to the charges by claiming that the state’s Special Task Force (STF) is actually a ‘Special Thakur Force’, which targets Brahmins selectively.
This is not Dwivedi’s first missive questioning the government. On August 16, he wrote to the state’s home minister (a portfolio held by Adityanath), seeking answers in the ongoing Monsoon session of the Vidhan Sabha on legal issues of Brahmins. Dwivedi has sought information about how many Brahmins had been killed in the last three years, how many of the killers were nabbed, how many punished, steps taken by the government to protect Brahmins, whether the government was considering issuing arms licences to Brahmins on a priority basis, how many Brahmins had applied for arms licences and how many had received the same.
Dwivedi said that the letter was forged. “It is not my signature and it is on my appeal that a police case has been registered. The letter has been written to vitiate the state’s atmosphere,” he said.
The said case, registered late on Friday night, is under Sections 419, 420, 465, 469,471,501(1)(B), 502(B),153(A) ,153(A) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 of the IT Act.
