Yogi promises relief to people forced to ‘leave Kairana’
MEERUT : Ahead of the UP Assembly elections, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday visited Kairana in western UP’s Shamli district and promised compensation and security to some families who were allegedly forced to leave the town between 2014 and 2016. The BJP had claimed that scores of Hindu families had left the town after receiving threats from criminals.
The claim, however, was contested by others. The alleged exodus from Kairana was a big issue in the 2017 Assembly elections.
Yogi Adityanath, along with cabinet ministers Suresh Rana, Sidharth Nath Singh and western UP BJP president Mohit Beniwal, met families of traders allegedly killed by gangsters and those who left the town because of the reign of terror unleashed by gangster Muqeem Kala and others.
The meeting with the group of people was held at the house of one Vijay Mittal, whose grandfather Moolchand had left his native place Kairana.
“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,” Adityanath said, adding that action has been initiated against the guilty.
“The government will give some compensation to the victim families so that they could again carry out their business and economic activities,” Adityanath told reporters.
He said Kairana was once considered a major industrial town of the country and a centre of classical music. “Towns like Kairana and Kandhla faced repercussions of the criminalisation of politics in the early 1990s and the politicisation of professional criminals. Hindu businessmen and other Hindus were forced to migrate from here on a large scale,” he alleged.
“After 2017, due to our government’s policy of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals, many families have returned,” he claimed.
Adityanath said when he came to the town in 2017, people had demanded the strengthening of the police outpost and a PAC battalion. “The work of strengthening the outpost has already been done and today I
came here for laying the foundation of a PAC battalion camp,” added Yogi Adityanath.
The CM insisted that people should stand against anti-social and criminal elements. “These anti-social elements would be exposed only after people rise against them,” he said, assuring the families that the government would initiate stern action against criminals.
Briefing the Yogi Adityanath, minister Suresh Rana said that “the law and order situation during the Samajwadi Party’s rule was dismal and members of the victims’ families appreciated the efforts of the BJP government for improving the law and order situation in the town.”
“One of them said it was difficult to move out after 5pm during SP rule because criminals were fearless. But the situation has changed now and criminals surrendered in police stations,” added Rana.
The families of three traders -- Vinod, Raju and Shankar -were also invited at Vijay Mittal’s house where they interacted with the CM.
Trader Vinod was allegedly killed by the Furqan gang and thereafter Raju and Shankar, were killed by dreaded criminal Mukeem Kala in broad daylight after they refused to pay him extortion money. Killings of three traders in a span of 10 days in 2014 had unleashed a reign of terror in the town, which reportedly led to exodus of many people, said locals.
The CM said that the BJP believed in making lives of people peaceful and fearless and construction of a PAC battalion camp in the town would provide them a more secure and safe atmosphere.
In June 2016, the then BJP MP Hukum Singh had claimed that close to 350 Hindus had left Kairana over alleged threats and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community. Later, the Kairana police had claimed that a spot verification of 150 addresses revealed several reasons for the migration, including better business and job prospects.
Locals said 25 to 30 families who left Kairana town had returned while others were still staying outside. Speaking to mediapersons, Yogi Adityanath said a few families had returned and others would also come back in the changed atmosphere. Inputs from PTI