NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the chief minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government after the state dispensation ordered an immediate removal of all caste references from police records and public notices.The state government passed the order after the Allahabad high court directed all police units and district administrations to eliminate caste-based discrimination.Posing several questions to the state government, Akhilesh Yadav asked if the government would “terminate the conspiracies filled with caste discrimination that involve defaming someone by levelling false and humiliating accusations?”“And what will be done to eradicate the caste discrimination that has been entrenched in the mind for 5000 years?” the former chief minister said in a post in Hindi on X.“And what will be done to eliminate the caste discrimination arising from caste display through clothing, attire, and symbolic markers? And what will be done to end the mentality of caste discrimination that involves asking about ‘caste’ before someone’s name upon meeting them?” he asked.Yadav also wondered what measures will be taken to put an end to the thinking of caste discrimination that involves making someone clean their house. “And what will be done to terminate the conspiracies filled with caste discrimination that involve defaming someone by levelling false and humiliating accusations?” he asked.

Akhilesh Yadav’s post on X

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, a senior official told news agency PTI.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.However, the government clarified that exemptions will apply in cases filed under the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, where identifying caste remains a necessary legal requirement.Meanwhile, caste-based rallies have also been prohibited across the state, with law enforcement tasked to ensure strict monitoring of social media platforms to prevent violations.The government also said vehicles displaying caste names or slogans glorifying caste will be penalised under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 1988.