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Kairana exodus: UP CM to meet a group of people who have returned
Shamli superintendent of police Sukirti Madhav Mishra confirmed the schedule and the CM’s proposed meeting with a group of people who had left the town in 2016 but returned thereafter
Samajwadi Party (SP) has termed chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s proposed meeting with a group of people, who had left Kairana town in 2016 and later came back, during his visit to Shamli district on Monday “an attempt to communalise atmosphere in western UP ahead of 2022 assembly elections”.
As per the CM’s schedule received at Shamli district headquarters, Yogi will on Monday lay the foundation stones of a PAC battalion camp and other projects in Kairana besides meeting a group of people who had left the town in 2016 and later came back. The CM will also address a public meeting in Kairana.
Shamli superintendent of police Sukirti Madhav Mishra confirmed the schedule and the CM’s proposed meeting with a group of people who had left the town in 2016 but returned thereafter. However, the exact number of people meeting the CM is yet not clear.
Alleging that the government did nothing for the development of Kairana, SP leader Sudhir Pawar, who belongs to Shamli district, said, “They are now playing the exodus card again to polarise voters on the basis of religion to get political mileage.” Pawar claimed that the then BJP MP Hukum Singh had raised the issue of exodus but he had later admitted that it was not associated with Hindu and Muslims.
The then minister of state for home Hansraj Aheer had said in Parliament that no such issue existed in western UP, the SP leader further claimed. He said that during his recent visit to Kairana, SP president Akhilesh Yadav announced to set up a university for girls and an industrial zone there. “Instead of talking about issues of real development, they are raising an issue which never existed,” Pawar alleged.
The then BJP MP Hukum Singh had in June 2016 claimed that close to 350 Hindus had left Kairana over alleged threats and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community. Later, Kairan police had claimed that a spot verification of 150 addresses of the list 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.
Speaking over the phone, Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam said, “People had least grievances against one other. They wanted stern action against criminals.” Krishnam also expressed his dismay that the ruling SP didn’t initiate any action on the recommendations of their report.
The traders’ community of Kairana too had then claimed that reign of terror unleashed by dreaded criminal Mukim Kala and his gang was one of the major reasons for many traders shifting their base.
Kala struck terror in Kairana by killing two businessmen in August 2014 after they refused to pay him extortion. Earlier, one more businessman was allegedly shot dead by members of Furkan gang in broad daylight. Later, Kala was arrested and lodged in Chitrakoot jail where he was allegedly shot dead by another inmate when a gang war broke out inside the jail in May this year.
