LUCKNOW: Bringing the sensitive issue of ‘exodus’ back into his discourse in Meerut, the gateway to western UP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called the region a fiefdom of mafia and criminals who used to compel people to migrate leaving behind their ancestral homes during previous governments but, he claimed, that reign of terror was mitigated by Yogi Adityanath government which was now playing “jail-jail” with those anti-social elements.
The PM was addressing a huge gathering in Meerut while laying the foundations tone of Rs 700 crore Major Dhyan Chandra Sports University on Sunday.
"How can people forget those days of terror when goons used to set their houses ablaze. I was a different game the mafias and criminals used to play in the previous government forcing the people migrate leaving behind their ancestral homes in this area," the PM claimed.
He also referred to bad law and order situation scenario during the Samajwadi Party rule without taking its name saying that five years back the daughters used to be scared to step out after it got dark. “Today, they are making new records in the area of sports bringing laurels to the country at international events,” said the PM
In fact, migration of Hindu families due to the fear of Muslims has been a sensitive issue in western UP especially in Kairana town of Shamli district adjoining Meerut. Shamli and Muzaffarnagar are the districts with over 40 per cent of Muslim population. BJP stalwart and the then a prominent Gurjar leader Hukum Singh had made a high pitch the issue of exodus by Hindus of Kairana during
the last 2017 assembly elections.
PM Modi, in his addressed attempted to raise the issue to attack the SP government as the exodus happened during its rule. Even UP CM Yogi Adityanath had also visited Kairana assuring the Hindu population of the town that now nobody could dare to force them out of their houses and had claimed that the town was now witnessing reverse migration as Hindu families were coming back after the
improvement in law and order.
Keeping his speech focused on sports and games, the PM said: "Earlier, mafia and criminals use to play their own games. They used to have their own tournament of illegal land grabbing but now the situation is different and people coming back to their homes on assurance of the dispensation," said the PM who referred to the Sotipur racket of dismembering the stolen vehicles. “The game with vehicles has also ended in Sotipur and the youth are getting opportunity to hover over the horizon of sports,” he maintained.
In another swipe at the Samajwadi Party referring to the controversial statement of party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, the PM equalized the government with "abhibhavak" (guardian) which should not ignore mistakes of wrongdoers saying "ladkon se galti ho jaati hai" (boys often commit mistakes unmindfully). Mulayam had kicked up a row while speaking in favour of rapists as “boys often commit
mistakes unmindfully” while opposing capital punishment to them in connection with a Mumbai rape case 2014.
Pitching in for a strong youth outreach, Modi said that the mantra of 21st century was that the path treaded by the youth would be the path followed by the nation and further the world.
"The youth is not only a helmsman, extension but also the policymaker and leader of the new India. The youth has the strength of antiquity couple with the sense of modernity," said PM Modi while stressing how the youth have spread wings by setting up start-ups. However, he did not let go an opportunity to attack the previous governments led by the opposition accusing them of failing to develop an ecosystem for sports.
“While corruption, nepotism and politics marred the prospects of sportspersons, former governments used to have a myopic view asking them what do they do besides playing. They could never visualize sports as a career option. That is why while the hockey graduated to Astroturf at the international level, we continued to dribble in the grass,” opined the PM while making the difference of approach clear which made the country wait for decades to get a medal in national sports like Hockey in Olympics.
Being at the farmers’ turf, the PM invoked former PM Chaudhury Charan Singh calling him a visionary to blunt the attack of opposition over farmers’ issue. It may be mentioned that Charan Singh’s grandson Jayant Chaudhury is having some traction among the farmers of western UP during recent protests over farm laws and he has stitched an alliance with Samajwadi Party.