Abhishek Upadhyay, a Lucknow-based freelance journalist, recently posted on X about “the biggest political story of the year not being reported” by the media. He referred to the rise in the prominence of the Rajput community, colloquially described as “Thakur or Singh raj (rule),” under the tenure of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh.
Upadhyay wrote that the media hammered about “Yadav raj” during SP chief and former CM Akhilesh Yadav’s tenure, and so it was imperative to discuss Thakur raj. The journalist listed 40 top state government officials who purportedly belong to the Thakur community and asked if appointments were being made on the basis of caste.
The journalist’s question remained unanswered. But he was soon booked in an FIR at the Hazratganj Police Station in Lucknow under sections 353 (2), 197 (1)(c), 302, 356 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and section 66 of the IT Act for “spreading false information”, “harming national integration”, and defamation. The complaint also named journalist Mamta Tripathy, who had put up the same tweet as Upadhyay.
The FIR lodged on the complaint of another freelance journalist, Pankaj Kumar, referred to Yogi as “Maharaj”. It said that the saffron-clad leader was “like an incarnation of God”, and no other CM matched his popularity.
Attempt to ‘scare, silence journalists’
The complaint accused Upadhyay and Tripathi of posting “false, baseless, and misleading information” and “entering into a conspiracy and criminal mentality with intention to tarnish the image of the chief minister.”
Speaking to Newslaundry, Upadhyay said the FIR was an attempt to “scare journalists from asking questions and doing such stories”. “We raised such questions against every government, but only under this regime are we silenced.”
The journalist, who earlier worked with ABP and TV9, said that in the past he wrote about the prominence of the Yadav and Dalit communities under Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati’s governments. “Caste is an important factor in UP, so it is important to do such stories. No other government reacted this way. Why do they want to scare people from pursuing such stories?”
In a separate post on X, Upadhyay had listed questions that he had sent to the UP CMO office and state information director before making his posts about the alleged Thakur raj. He asked the government about how many DMs, secretariat officials, SSPs, and SPs belonging to the Thakur community were appointed by the state. He further asked about the steps taken by the government to ensure equal representation of backward and Dalit communities in these appointments.
Meanwhile, Mamata Tripathi, who earlier worked with Dainik Bhaskar, said, “I have covered crime as a reporter for many years, but I have never seen such an FIR. Maybe the truth is bitter. I did not even write the tweet myself. I liked the content, so I took someone else’s tweet and gave them credit in the tweet too. If they don’t agree with what is written, they can say so or point it out, but what’s the point of an FIR?”
Newslaundry reached out to the Hazratganj police and complainant Pankaj Kumar. This report will be updated on receiving their response.
Complainant says conspiracy against CM Yogi, country
In his complaint against the two journalists, Kumar wrote that Gorakhpeeth is a “pilgrimage site” and Yogi, as its head, is “like an incarnation of God” and he has no caste as a “sanyaasi (monk).”
In his string of praise for the CM, Kumar said the state has “excelled” under him in all fields, including “law and order”. He further claimed that CM Yogi’s X following was unparallel in comparison to the other CMs.
Kumar said “traitors” were “not able to digest his achievements”, and made “misleading and false” posts to incite caste conflict and spread hatred. He further alleged conspiracy and said that some, including many “white-collar people”, were receiving funds from people abroad for conducting illegal activities against the country.
He claimed that the two journalists had many pending cases against them and it was “very important” to jail them.
Update at 9.56 pm on Sept 25: Abhishek Upadhyay has moved the Supreme Court seeking to quash the FIR against him.
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