BJP team visits Kairana to review ‘migration’ row
16 Jun 2016 5:52 AM IST
A nine-member team of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) visited Kairana village in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday to review the situation over the alleged migration of Hindus. The issue has set off a political slugfest, with the Congress saying that the BJP leadership was “totally exposed” after a party MP’s U-turn on the exodus.
BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday announced the fact-finding team, after party MP Hukum Singh alleged that there was a communal angle to ‘migration’ from Kairana village in Shamli district in UP, where elections are due the next year.
Singh, who had recently alleged that several Hindu families have been forced to migrate from Kairana, following atrocities from “one particular community”, did a volte face on Tuesday, saying that it was “not communal” in nature, but had more to do with the law and order situation.
The team met some Hindu families, who had allegedly migrated, said Suresh Rana a BJP MLA, adding that it also interacted with officials of the district administration. “We have been raising the same issue in the Vidhan Sabha for three years now. We only talk about migration when the atmosphere of fear is at its peak. Had the CM of UP wanted, he could have controlled the situation long back,” he said, adding that a report would be sent to the party leadership. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should visit Kairana village and assess the situation rather than accusing the BJP of lying on this “sensitive matter”, he added. The team was led by Suresh Khanna, BJP’s legislature party leader in the UP Assembly.
Besides Khanna, the other members of the delegation included Baghpat MP Satpal Singh, Saharanpur MP RLP Sharma, Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh, Aligarh MP Satish Gautam, Aonla MP Dharmendra Kashyap and former UP DGP Brij Lal. “There has been mass exodus (from Kairana) due to gunda raj of the SP government,” Sharma alleged.
Congress’ in-charge of UP Ghulam Nabi Azad said the BJP leadership stood “totally exposed” on how they wanted to exploit the situation and tell people that the alleged migration was on religious lines, while it was for economic reasons.
“Exactly that is what we are afraid of because they (BJP) are having an eye on the Assembly elections. They might even turn small things into big issues. They will try to polarise the situation. This is what people in UP should be cautious about,” he added.
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav cautioned against any attempt to foment communal tension ahead of the Assembly polls.
“People from Kairana did come to me. They told me that what all they (BJP) are saying is a lie. It is nice that they (BJP)have taken a U-turn from what they have earlier said. Soon there will be elections in UP, there should not be any tension on communal divide,” he said. Shamli DM Sujeet Kumar has already ruled out any communal and law and order issues behind some people leaving the area.
Delegation of 5 Oppn parties to visit Kairana today
New Delhi: A delegation of five Opposition parties, including Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will visit Kairana on Thursday. The delegates will meet residents of the village and address a gathering of civil society, alleging that the BJP’s claim of exodus of Hindus and subsequent visit by a party team have created “anxiety and tension” in Western Uttar Pradesh.
“They (BJP) have tested the waters in Godhra and Muzaffarnagar riots and seen the results and are in search of (an opportunity for) doing the same before the UP Assembly elections,” JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said.
Condemning BJP chief Amit Shah’s statement on “exodus” of Hindus in Kairana, the Opposition parties alleged that the comment has created anxiety and tension in Western UP. The delegation, which will visit Kandhla and Kairana include JD(U) MP KC Tyagi, CPI(M) MP Md Salim, CPI’s D Raja, NCP MP D P Tripathi and RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha.
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