UP toll mounts to 31; violence spreads to neighbouring dists

Uttar Pradesh was on Monday on the edge struggling to contain communal flare-up as the death toll in Muzaffarnagar rose to 31 and violence spread to neighbouring Shamli and other districts even as curfew remained in force and Army staged flag marches for the second consecutive day.

Under all-round attack, the Akhilesh Yadav government late in the evening announced setting up of an inquiry commission headed by (retired) Justice Vishnu Sahai to probe the Muzaffarnagar violence, state home secretary Kamal Saxena told reporters in Lucknow.

“The death toll in the violence in Muzaffarnagar and other areas has climbed to 31,” principal secretary home R M Srivastava said.
Violence spread to neighbouring district of Shamli where a 40-year-old Imam of a mosque, Maulana Umar Din, was shot dead, Shamli district magistrate P K Singh said.

Concerned over the incidents, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and assured him of all help from the Centre to deal with the situation.

Union home ministry asked Uttar Pradesh government to send Muzaffarnagar situation report every 12 hours. It also asked the state government to deploy enough forces in rural areas in the district where violence is yet to be contained.

Seventeen FIRs have been lodged in connection with the incidents. One of the FIRs is relating to the Mahapanchayat held in Sukheda village in which provocative speeches were allegedly made, leading to the violence.

The Centre had alerted 11 states following intelligence inputs about possible communal incidents, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said. “I don’t think he (Akhilesh Yadav) ignored these warnings,” he said on being asked whether the chief minister was to blamed for the violence.

Union minister Ajit Singh and three BJP MPs including Ravi Shankar Prasad were stopped from visiting the troubled district and detained by the Ghaziabad police when they attempted to enter the state.

A blame game erupted with the opposition accusing the state government of failing to act in time to prevent the violence and the ruling Samajwadi Party hitting back, saying its rivals were trying to stir up communal trouble.

In an overnight crackdown, over 200 people were arrested and 1000 people booked, including BJP legislative party leader Hukum Singh, party MLAs Suresh Rana, Bhartendu, Sangeet Som and former Congress MP Harendra Malik for violating prohibitory orders. Authorities cancelled 1,744 arms licenses in Bhorkala, Shahpur, Phugana and some other areas of the district. Under fire over the violence, UP government transferred top police officials, including Saharanpur DIG, SSP Muzaffarnagar and SP Shamli.

Violence-hit Muzaffarnagar lies in Saharanpur range. “We are also cancelling more arms licenses in Phugana, Shahpur, Dhaurakalan as they were misused during the violence,” ADG, law and order, Arun Kumar told reporters in Muzaffarnagar.

UP governor BL Joshi has sent a report on the Muzaffarnagar violence to the Centre, which, sources said in Lucknow, has details regarding the administrative lapses as well as the situation prevailing there. Muzaffarnagar district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said one person was stabbed to death in Meerapur town of Muzaffarnagar district on Monday.

“One person was stabbed to death and one other injured when some miscreants attacked them,” Sharma said, adding that at least six people have been taken into police custody for interrogation in this connection.

One person was also killed in Saharanpur, officials said, adding that a body was found in Titawi. Army staged flag marches in Shahpur, Khautauli, Purkazi, Maripur, and Shamli areas, officials said.

Union minister of state for home RPN Singh said 5,000 paramilitary force personnel have already been sent to violence-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh, in addition to Army personnel. “If necessary, we are ready to provide more forces,” he said in Delhi.

SC declines to take note of Muzaffarnagar riots

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea urging it to take cognisance of the ongoing communal violence in Muzaffarnagar district and intervene to stop the killings of innocent people.

As senior counsel MN Krishnamani sought the court’s intervention informing it that unofficially more than 100 people have been killed in the riots, a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai said: “You are approaching us as if the state government is not aware of it and no action is being taken.”
“If in one corner of the country, something is happening, we need not take (its) cognizance,” Chief Justice Sathasivam said