BJP’s Kairana Exodus List Falls Flat as “Migrants” Refute Claims

At least 20 families named in the list of “migrants” say they moved in search of better options.

BJP MLA Hukum Singh, BJP president Amit Shah, and UP CM Akhilesh Yadav. (Photo: The Quint)

The Uttar Pradesh police, and authorities in the state’s Shamli district, have submitted a list of 118 names which disprove the claims made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against a “certain community” driving people out of the Kairana region, reports The Indian Express.

BJP MLA from Kairana Hukum Singh, an accused in Muzaffarnagar communal violence case, had alleged that 346 families had been forced to flee the town where the Muslim population stands at 85 percent.

According to the list submitted by the UP police, of the people named in the list:

• 5 are dead
  
• 12 are still present
  
• 46 have moved out since 2011
  
• 55 moved out at least 6-11 years ago

Media houses like the The Indian Express, CNN News18, The Times of India, and the Hindustan Times verified the names on the list and found that the people named had migrated for mostly better opportunities.

Also Read: BJP on SP Offensive: Kairana, Mathura Violence Weapons of Choice

The Indian Express tracked down 22 people who figure in Singh’s list and found five had died, four had moved out of Kairana looking for better opportunities, 10 left more than 10 years ago, three had moved fearing “local criminals”.

The Indian Express Report

A TOI team located at least 20 families mentioned in Singh’s list of 346 and almost all of them said the MP had got things wrong and perhaps willfully falsified “evidence” for political reasons.

The Times of India Report

Back in the 100,000-strong town [Kairana], a lack of jobs appears a bigger problem than communal ill-will. A quick check of employment under MNREGA shows there are not many takers for the scheme.

Hindustan Times Report

This is not to say that the fear of criminals is absent. There are people in the list who left the region due to incidents like the ones noted by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC):

• A woman belonging to the Kashyap caste was abducted, gangraped and killed, yet no action has been taken by the police against the offenders.
  
• Two businessmen brothers, Shankar and Raju, were shot dead by the criminals in broad daylight in the market when they did not pay protection money to the criminals.
  
• A petrol pump was looted in the area and when the police took on the criminals, they shot dead a constable and managed to flee.

VHP’s Allegations

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had alleged on Monday that “jihadi elements” had led to an exodus of Hindus from Kairana and asked the Samajwadi Party government to “rein them in” and tighten law and order in the state.

Jihadis are being encouraged to carry out their activities. VHP calls upon the state government to rein in jihadi elements who are responsible for this exodus and tighten law and order in the state. It is not only Kairana in Uttar Pradesh that is a mute testimony to the exodus of Hindus, there are many more places other than Kairana which are also witnessing this trend of mass out-migration of Hindus. Apart from Kandhla, Gangoh and Thanabhavan, there are many other places in Western UP where Hindus are resorting to mass out-migration.

Surendra Jain, General Secretary, VHP

Following these remarks, the Shamli District Magistrate had ordered the SDM and Circle Officer to probe into the allegations, according to Inspector General (Law and Order) HR Sharma.

Akhilesh Yadav Hits Back

UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has called that the BJP’s allegations false.

The BJP is alleging that the Samajawadi Party government forced the people flee from Kairana. BJP can be dishonest to this extent. A house-to-house search shows the lie of BJP. I want them to show some work. They should come and say that they distributed laptops to the people and not only talk about Digital India.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav arrives to meet family members of SP City Mukul Dwivedi who died in Mathura violence on Monday, 13 June 2016. (Photo: PTI)

Yadav says that people in the Kairana region left for better opportunities, that too over 10-15 years ago:

BJP is lying. Most of the people left the village about 10-15 years back, while others left for occupation about 7-8 years back.

NHRC Notice to UP Govt

On 10 June, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had issued a notice to the UP government regarding the migration from Kairana “due to fear of criminals”.

The NHRC had also directed the state’s DIG (Investigation) to enquire into the matter and submit a report within two weeks:

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police, Government of Uttar Pradesh calling for reports within four weeks on a complaint alleging that families of a particular religion are leaving Kairana area of Western UP due to fear of criminals. It has been further allegedly, about 250 families have migrated and left their homes out of the fear of criminals who enjoy political patronage.

However, according to IG Sharma, the state government has not received the NHRC notice yet.

(With agency inputs)