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Kairana ‘exodus’ : Shamli admin starts exercise to collect info about those who are back
The UP chief minister had directed the Shamli district administration to collect information about such people, says Shamli DM Jasjit Kaur
A week after chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Kairana town in Shamli district and promised security to some Hindus who claimed to have been forced out of their homes between 2014 and 2016, Shamli district administration and police have started an exercise to collect information about the families who had left the town and have returned now.
“A survey will be carried out to collect details about such families. I have asked staff of the revenue department to collect inputs regarding it,” said district magistrate, Shamli, Jasjit Kaur.
The DM said the chief minister had directed the district administration to collect information about these families. She, however, clarified that the district administration had not passed any order in this regard.
“We want to provide an authentic report to the government that’s why we wish to verify all details about these families before sending it to the government,” Kaur added. She further said the CM had also directed to prepare a list of those families whose members lost their lives or suffered financial losses in the process of shifting their base.
On November 8, the chief minister, along with his cabinet ministers Suresh Rana, Sidharth Nath Singh and western UP BJP president Mohit Beniwal, had met families of traders allegedly killed by gangsters, Muqeem Kala and Furqan (who goes by one name) gang, and those who allegedly left the town between 2014 and 2016. At the time, the state was ruled by the Samajwadi Party.
“I have sought a report from the district administration about the families which were harmed and their members killed here in the previous Samajwadi Party regime,” Yogi had said in Kairana.
“After 2017, due to our government’s policy of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals, many families have returned,” the CM said. “The government will give some compensation to the victim families so that they can again carry out business and economic activities,” he had said. The meetings were held at the house of local resident Vijay Mittal, whose grandfather Moolchand left his native place Kairana in 2016.
The families of three traders -- Vinod, Raju and Shankar (all of whom go by one name), who were killed in 2014-- were also invited to interact with the CM.Raising the issue of the alleged exodus in June 2016, then BJP MP Hukum Singh had claimed that close to 350 Hindus left Kairana over alleged threats and extortion. Later, Kairana police had said that a spot verification of 150 addresses revealed several reasons for the migration, including better business and job prospects.
The then ruling Samajwadi Party had sent a delegation under Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam to verify the charges. Later, the Bharatiya Janata Party had also sent a delegation of their MPs and leaders to enquire about the issue.
On being asked about the number of families who had left the town and have returned now, western UP BJP president Mohit Beniwal said, “We don’t have the exact number but can say that a substantial number of families have returned because of better law and order situation in the area and in state.”
