A day after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Singh’s joint press conference in Muzaffarnagar, the BJP’s central and State leadership raked up the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who held meetings in Baghpat on Saturday, tweeted, “In Muzaffarnagar riots, more than 60 Hindus were killed and more than 1,500 were sent to jails. Villages after villages were vacated. This is the identity of the Samajwadi Party.”
The riots happened in August-September 2013 during the SP rule. Sixty-two people belonging to two communities lost their lives and around 50,000 were displaced after the riots.
“In Muzaffarnagar riots, innocent Hindus lost their lives and fake cases were filed against them. When we said the culprits are ‘others’, they should be set right and take back the cases, those who instigated the riots felt bad,” said Mr. Adityanath.
He charged SP chief Akhilesh Yadav with giving tickets to those involved in the riots in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar. “The only development I could see during the SP rule was the extension of the boundary wall of kabristan [burial ground]. Criminal spots like Sotiganj were their bastion. Today, our bulldozer has cleared such spots.”
Praise for Balyan
In Muzaffarnagar, Home Minister Amit Shah said he had just taken over the charge of Uttar Pradesh when the riots happened. “Till today, I have not forgotten the pain of the riots. Have you?”
He went on to allege that during the riots, the police acted keeping in mind the vote bank of one party. “Those who were affected were made accused and those who instigated the riots were turned into victims. Thousands of fake cases were lodged against those affected,” said Mr. Shah.
He praised Muzaffarnagar MP and BJP’s Jat face in the region Sanjeev Balyan for leading the fight for justice for the affected both in the court and on the streets. “The BJP stands by the affected. Vote with care. If you commit the mistake of 2012, those who instigated the riots will sit on the throne in Lucknow.”
Mr. Shah continued his attempt to find cracks in the SP-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance to woo the Jat vote bank. “They say they are together. We can see they are together. But will they be together after the day of counting? After March 10, [SP leader] Azam Khan will replace [RLD chief] Jayant bhai,” he said. “Right now, he is in jail. But after the results, he will be back. The distribution of tickets by the SP makes it apparent. Isn’t it?” he said.
