Muzaffarnagar, Sep 16: Political parties were critical of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to communal riots-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar on Monday, with BJP saying such “secular tourism” would not help and BSP terming it as a “drama”.
Samajwadi Party, which supports the UPA from outside, also took a dig saying it is good that the prime minister should undertake such visits as elections are nearing.
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “The way secular tourism is being undertaken over the issue of communal riots, it will not help provide any kind of compensation to the dead and will not heal the wounds of riot victims.”
Dr. Singh, accompanied by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi, met some riots victims to assess the situation and said the perpetrators of such crimes would get the “strictest punishment”.
BSP chief Mayawati criticised the visit saying the Centre should have taken the initiative of dismissing the Uttar Pradesh government and imposed President's Rule instead.
“Otherwise, this act of meeting the victims is only a drama. This will not give any relief to people of Uttar Pradesh. Merely putting balm on their wounds would not help...The Centre should discharge its Constitutional obligation,” she said.
Taking a dig at Singh, SP leader Azam Khan said, “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has gone to Muzaffarnagar... it is a good thing... elections are near and he should do this.”
He said it would have been better for the prime minister to have also visited other areas like Faizabad, Mathura and Bareilly, where riots have taken place. Mr. Khan also reminded him that he chose to ignore the historic Moradabad riots that continued for quite a while.
BJP president Rajnath Singh said had the Centre intervened in Uttar Pradesh in time, such a big tragedy could have been avoided.
“Today, Uttar Pradesh is burning. Ever since the SP government has come there, the communal harmony in the state has been destroyed,” he said, adding the situation has turned from bad to worse and there is nothing left in the name of law and order.
Mr. Naqvi said, “In this question-answer between state and central government, the common man gets squeezed and kept dying and is now feeling helpless.”
Union Minister of State for Home R.P.N. Singh sought to defend the Prime Minister's visit, saying, “We had to wait for normalcy to return. We went there to hear first-hand account of what is happening in Muzaffarnagar...All people spoke about how political parties are trying to whip-up the communal passion and they all said this should not happen during an election year.”
The Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari hit out at BJP for its criticism of the Prime Minister's visit.
“I am surprised that BJP is taking umbrage to the visit by the Prime Minister and the President and Vice President of Congress party. I think BJP will be well served to try and emulate this gesture of empathy,” Mr. Tewari said adding it was a Congress-UPA tradition to reach out to people who are in anguish.
He said while UPA tried to create harmony, the opposition's role was one of “opposite nature".
“We have always tried to play a role which is constructive, we have always tried to harmonise relationships between various communities and the role of Bhartiya Janata Party over all these years has been one in which they have super-specialised in creating strife across the length and breadth of the country,” he said.
Muzaffarnagar riots: PM promises strictest action
Muzaffarnagar, Sep 16: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, today visited communal violence-hit areas of this district in Uttar Pradesh to share the pain of those affected and promised "strictest punishment" to the perpetrators.
Singh and Sonia Gandhi appealed to all sections of the society here to maintain peace and harmony.
Assuring all help from the Centre to the state government to restore normalcy, the Prime Minister "priority and efforts" right now was to ensure that affected people are sent back home with a feeling of security.
Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi visited a camp in Bassi Kalan village, 30 kms from here, where Muslims affected by violence have taken shelter. They also visited Jat-dominated Bawali and Khanjpura villages, which too have witnessed riots.
"I am here to share your pain," Singh told the affected people as he, along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, tried to console them.
Talking to reporters after listening to the people living in the camp, Singh said last week's riots were a "major incident" and that the "perpetrators of the riots will be given strictest punishment."
He said he had come here to take stock of the situation. "Our priority and efforts would be that people displaced are sent back home... Steps should be taken to ensure that people have a feeling of security."
Later, they went to Jat-dominated areas where people alleged "police inaction" and talked about a feeling of insecurity.
"We want that people should go back to their villages. Steps should be taken to ensure a feeling of security," the Prime Minister said.
At the refugee camp, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi interacted with the people who have taken shelter there. Sonia moved away from the cordon to listen to the women.
42-year-old riot-affected Jameel Bassi from Kutbi village said he told the Prime Minister that the victims did not want to go back to their homes as their lives are in danger.
He was seen weeping during his interaction with Singh.
Governor B L Joshi and Union Minister of State for Home R P N Singh were also present.
"We told the Prime Minister that we don't want to go back to our village. There is threat to our lives," Bassi said.
"The Prime Minister said that all help will be extended to us by the state government and the central government," he added.
An estimated 2000 people are staying in Bassi Kalan relief camp.
Earlier report:
Muzaffarnagar riots a big tragedy: PM
Muzaffarnagar, Sep 16: Terming the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar a "big tragedy", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during a visit to the violence-hit Uttar Pradesh district along with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi Monday, called for punishing the guilty.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi interact with families of riot victims at Bassi Kalan relief camp in Muzaffarnagar
Manmohan Singh asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure safety and rehabilitation of the people who were displaced.
A grim faced Manmohan Singh spoke to officials as he walked through Bassi Kalan village and later Tawli amid tight security.
He told the people that he, along with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, had come to them in solidarity in their hour of crisis.
As many as 48 people were killed, over 100 injured and more than 43,000 rendered homeless in the communal clashes that singed the area since Sep 7. The army was called in to contain the situation.
The prime minister told reporters that he expected the security scenario to improve in the area so that the displaced people can return home.
"People behind such ghastly violence would be punished and all help extended to the UP government," the prime minister said.
While Manmohan Singh spoke to Divisional Commissioner Bhuvnesh Kumar and District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, Sonia Gandhi mingled with women and sought to know the sequence of events that led to the rioting.
Rahul Gandhi spoke to the youth and assured them the Congress and the union government was with them.
He also asked the union Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh to take petitions from the people and address them.
Uttar Pradesh Governor B.L. Joshi and UP Health Minister Ahmed Hasan were present during the prime minister's visit.
People who met the prime minister and other leaders complained that the district administration and the state government did not extend to them the kind of support that should have been there.
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