Fissures have surfaced within the BJP over the bogey raised by a party MP about a mass Hindu "exodus" from Kairana town in west UP allegedly under oppression on communal lines from the minority community.

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A report submitted by a BJP delegation, which toured the affected area, has ruled out any communal disintegration in the area, and has found that increasing crime and police inertia in related matters was the main reason behind several families leaving the area.

Earlier, BJP MP Hukum Singh had released a list of 346 families of Kairana to allege that they had been forced to flee their home and hearth by Muslims. He, however, later blamed the exodus on the law and order situation in the town.

The district administration of Shamli in a report submitted to the UP government has rubbished claims of a mass Hindu 'exodus' from Kairana town. It has also rejected the contention that the existing migration was due to law and order problems. Media reports have also given the lie to Hukum Singh's claims and exposed how most families mentioned in his list had either left due to reasons relating to business, education or medical concerns or had moved out 10 to 15 years ago, and not over the three-four years of the SP government's tenure as alleged.

Meanwhile, differences within the party also surfaced over a 'Nirbhay Yatra' BJP MLA Sangeet Som planned to take out on Friday. With Hukum Singh's stiff opposition, the march was called off abruptly.

"There have been numerous cases of extortion. Criminals lodged in jails are demanding 'rangdari', and people are killed if they don't pay up. The police instead of taking action against the goons, asks the victims to keep quiet and bear with the circumstances," Suresh Khanna, leader of the BJP Legislative Party in the UP Assembly who led the party delegation, has said in his report he submitted to state unit president Keshav Prasad Maurya.

"The government is discriminating with the people in this area on religious grounds. This is a major reason for the acute resentment among the people here," he stated.

"Interaction with the people here reveals that Hindus are living in fear. Many of them can't even send their daughters to school. They can't organize religious functions, use mikes or sing 'bhajans' in public places," his report read.

The BJP, has clearly changed tack to projecting the Kairana issue as forced migration of residents due to fear induced by the police appeasement of criminals belonging to the minority community.

In his report, Suresh Khanna claimed that migration due to fear, extortion and ransom threats by goons was rampant.

"There is no justice, as the police is hesitant to act against the criminals of a particular religion and complaints are not registered if the victim belongs to another religion. They are asked to settle it among themselves" he said.

In its preliminary report submitted to the government, the district administration has listed lack of industries and health and educational centres in Karaina as the reason behind the economic migration.

Hukum list exposed

Of the 346 families listed by Hukum Singh, the Shamli administration has probed 119 of which it found 68 had left Kairana 10-15 years ago for employment, business, education of children, health and other services. Four persons on the list are dead, while 13 families were still living in Kairana. The remaining families left Kairana over five years ago due to various reasons but their ancestral property, homes and shops are still intact in Kairana.