Lucknow: Five years after the Muzaffarnagar riots, the two communities of the region have decided to give up their differences and amicably sort the issues. The recent Hindu-Muslim panchayats in west UP are an example of the improving relations, leaving some political leaders worried ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The panchayat organised in Bulandshahr district’s Barabasti on February 4 saw Jat members of Purbaliyan and Muslims of Kutuba village greeting each other with a hug, following which they decided to take back 20 cases against each other and members of both the communities.
Around 12 people died from these villages in the communal clashes of 2013.
Earlier, in December, a delegation of people from the two communities met former UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav at his residence in Delhi to use his influence to reach a settlement and withdraw ongoing cases from both sides.
According to reports, the changing scenario of the region has given sleepless nights to some BJP leaders, who want to earn some brownie points ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Former Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan met UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Monday in Lucknow, along with BJP MLA Sangeet Som, farmer leader Naresh Tikait and a few others to solve the issues related to the riots.
The leaders demanded that most of the cases of arson filed against the Jats should be quashed. They claimed that of the 502 cases, around 400 were of arson and were mostly bogus just to get the compensation. The Yogi government has promised to look into the matter.
A few days ago, the UP government had announced its decision to withdraw 20,000 cases which were “politically motivated”.
The Muzaffarnagar riots took place during the regime of Akhilesh Yadav in August-September of 2013. Around 60 people were killed in the clashes and more than 40,000 people were rendered homeless. A total of 502 cases were registered in connection with the riots, in which 6,867 people have been accused.
Comments
0 comment