Under assault from the BJP over the Mathura incident and alleged exodus in Kairana, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday lashed out at the party terming it as “dishonest.”
The political temperature in U.P., which heads to the polls in a few months, has risen ever since BJP MP Hukum Singh claimed there was a mass exodus of Hindu families from Kairana town in western U.P.’s Shamli district over the past two years. Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts were hit by deadly riots in September 2013 and have been communally sensitive since.
Mr. Singh, a former Union Minister and an accused in the Muzaffarnagar riots, produced a list of “346 Hindu families” he claimed fled the town leaving behind their homes and property after being allegedly targeted and persecuted by the minority community. Complaints over the issue then prompted the National Humans Rights Commission to issue notices to the U.P. government.
Mr. Yadav rubbished the BJP’s list of families who have allegedly fled from Kairana and said it included persons who had left the town more than 14 years ago due to some incident and others due to various reasons.
‘BJP has no issue’
He urged journalists to scrutinise the list. “Are the Samajwadis responsible for that? We want the truth out in the open. Since polls are near and the BJP has no issue, they want to black out all our good work,” Mr. Yadav told reporters in Mathura, where he vi
Even as the Shamli police and district administration are probing the list of families, the BJP has formed a seven-member committee that will visit the town for inspection.
The NHRC has also directed its DIG (Investigation) to depute a team of officers for a spot enquiry, covering all the allegations made in the complaint and submit a report within two weeks.
