LUCKNOW: In a bid to soothe the victims of the 2016 Kairana mass exodus, CM Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that peace was restored in the district owing to his government's policy of zero-tolerance against crime.
Adityanath, who visited Kairana city in Shamli district, met the trader families who had returned home after their migration in 2016 due to the fear of another community. He later laid the foundation stones of a PAC battalion camp and other projects.
During a meeting with Vijay Mittal and the Mula Pansari family, CM Yogi, flanked by BJP state chief Swatantra Dev Singh and state cane minister Suresh Rana, said towns like Kairana had suffered the brunt of criminalisation of politics in the early 1990s.
The CM also met Mittal’s wife Aditi and daughter Kanak. They all had migrated to Surat after being harassed repeatedly by extortionists. They had returned to Kairana in 2019. Another such family comprised Neetu, wife of late Vinod Singhal, who was murdered by criminals for extortion.
Families of two men from Muzaffarnagar, who were murdered for not yielding to pressure by the extortionists, also met the CM. These were Anu Singhal and Vineet -- wife and brother of late Shiv Kumar, and Rekha Garg and Harshit -- wife and son of late Rajendra Kumar.
Addressing a public meeting in the Shamli district, the CM lashed out at the previous governments and accused them of criminalisation of politics. Yogi said, “When I came here in 2017, people had demanded the battalion and outpost of PAC. After 2017, peace has returned to Kairana due to the policy of zero-tolerance against crimes and criminals. A number of families have returned to Kairana now. Today, I am here for the establishment of a battalion of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC)," he said.
The UP CM claimed that under his regime, those who had forced the people to migrate to other parts in 2016, had themselves migrated out of the state. "Between 2014 and 2016, several Hindu families in Kairana had migrated due to threats of extortion from another community. In my regime, those who forced you to leave Kairana, have now left the place because they know that they will have to pay dearly for their misdeeds," he said.
Warning anti-social elements who used to indulge in riots and other crimes, the CM said if they resorted to any such activity now, their coming generations would regret it.
The CM said a detailed report was sought from the district administration about the families who had suffered during the previous regime. “Action has been taken against many of the culprits. The government will also give compensation to the families of the victims so that they can restart their business,” he maintained.
The Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 and exodus of Kairana had never been a political issue for the BJP, but that of ethos and pride for the party, the CM further said. “Previous governments used to get the criminals by choppers to felicitate them. The BJP government has sent such rioters and anti-social elements to the other world. Since our government has promised security to everyone, we are bringing a PAC battalion here,” asserted Yogi.
Adityanath's visit to Kairana ahead of the Assembly elections assumes political significance as the BJP faces a big challenge in western UP where the opposition claims that the farmers' protests over the new farm laws have brought the Jats and Muslims -- a sizeable vote bank in the area on one page.
According to reports, between 2014 and 2016, several Hindu families in Kairana had migrated due to threats of extortion from another community. Even, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had taken cognizance of it and issued a notice to the then state government, led by Akhilesh Yadav. The exodus of Hindu families from Kairana was a big issue in the 2017 Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party reacted sharply to the CM’s Kairana visit saying that the CM was resorting to the exodus issue as he had nothing for the development of Kairana during his tenure.
Senior SP leader Sudhir Punwar from Shamli accused the BJP of playing the exodus card again to polarise voters based on religion to get political mileage.
CM Yogi Adityanath meets Kairana residents who returned after the migration in 2016