A PCS officer and suspended city magistrate of Uttar Pradesh district Bareilly has openly confronted the state administration after submitting his resignation on Monday, citing deep disagreement with government policies, especially new UGC regulations, and the alleged insult of a Shankaracharya as the reasons behind his resignation.
The 2019-batch PCS officer, Alankar Agnihotri, staged a demonstration, raising slogans against the administration on Tuesday.
Late Monday night, after a meeting with the District Magistrate, Agnihotri accused the district administration of illegally detaining him at the DM’s residence. The DM, however, categorically denied these allegations. Soon after, Agnihotri was suspended late at night. Reacting sharply, Agnihotri stated that he would challenge the suspension in court.
On Tuesday morning, a heavy police deployment was seen outside Agnihotri’s residence, located in the ADM compound. The main gate was locked by police personnel, who claimed they were acting on orders from higher authorities. Following this, Agnihotri’s supporters appealed to people to gather at Damodar Park, where supporters began assembling.
Around 11 am, several senior officials, including City Additional Magistrate Saurabh Dubey, SP Rural Mukesh Chandra Mishra, and SDM Sadar Pramod Kumar, reached Agnihotri’s residence. Agnihotri then walked to the Collectorate along with his supporters and sat on a protest.
He staged a demonstration for about half an hour, raising slogans against the administration. At around 11:58 am, he proceeded to meet the DM. When the gates of the Collectorate were found closed, Agnihotri sat on the ground near the gate for nearly an hour. Later, he and his supporters moved inside the Collectorate auditorium, where media personnel were asked to leave.
Agnihotri stated that he wanted to ask the DM a single question: who had called from Lucknow on Monday night and allegedly used abusive language against him? He maintained that he would not leave without meeting the DM.
Reiterating his stand, Agnihotri alleged that a conspiracy had been hatched against him. He claimed that when the alleged conspiracy failed, when he remained firm on his resignation, a suspension order was hurriedly issued the same night. He announced that he would approach the High Court and, if required, the Supreme Court against his suspension.
After nearly three hours of protest at the Collectorate without meeting the DM, Agnihotri left and reached Damodar Park. He later said that he would return to the Collectorate at 3 pm to seek a meeting with the DM.
Meanwhile, opposition to the UGC Act has intensified across the country and in Uttar Pradesh, particularly among upper-caste groups. In this context, Kapil Pandit, the BJP social media in-charge from the Iglas Assembly constituency, announced his resignation from the party’s post and membership. His resignation letter has gone viral on social media, though district BJP president Krishnapal Lala stated that no office-bearer by that name exists in the organisation.
Separately, Deepak Sharma Azad, national president of the Akhand Bharat Hindu Sena, has written to the Prime Minister and the President opposing the UGC Act. He alleged that the law would promote caste-based discrimination and violate the constitutional principle of equality, demanding that the Act be withdrawn.
A major political and social row has erupted from Uttar Pradesh to Delhi over the University Grants Commission’s revised rules aimed at addressing caste-based discrimination in higher education institutions. The new guidelines have triggered sharp resentment among upper-caste groups, with protests planned on a large scale.
The UGC made structural changes and mandated the formation of an Equality Committee in all universities and colleges. Students belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities can now file complaints of caste discrimination before this committee. Earlier, only SC and ST students were eligible to file such complaints, but OBC students have now been included.
The rules specify mandatory representation from SC, ST and OBC categories in the committee, but upper-caste representation is not compulsory. This exclusion has become a major point of contention.