Dalit writer and activist Kanwal Bharti, who was arrested earlier this month for his posts on a social networking website in support of suspended IAS official Durga Shakti Nagpal, has alleged that he faces a threat to his life from senior UP minister Azam Khan.
Mr Bharti told reporters here that the minister was trying to create communal tension in Rampur in the writer’s name and was fuelling communal passions against him.
“I was hounded, arrested and targeted after I had made some comments on the networking site. My compute was taken away and my phone has been put on surveillance. I am being tracked all the time and I fear that I may even be eliminated at the behest of Azam Khan,” he said on the sidelines of a function here. He added that he had seen ‘suspicious looking armed men’ roam around his house in Rampur.
Replying to a question, the writer said that in Rampur, which is the constituency of Mr Khan, the UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has no administrative control.
“Jungle raj prevails in Rampur which is ruled by Azam Khan,” he added.
Talking about his posts on the social networking site, Mr Bharti said that these were a mere expression of his thoughts and beliefs and the law of the land had granted him freedom of expression.
He denied that he harboured political ambitions and said that he had no links with any political party.
The dalit writer also denied that his posts could have triggered communal tension in Rampur and said that he was arrested for ‘entirely unrelated reasons.’
It may be recalled that a Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice H.L. Gokhale, last week, had served notice to the Uttar Pradesh government seeking its response on the eminent scholar’s arrest.