The Union Home Ministry on Monday asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to send the Muzaffarnagar ground situation report every 12 hours even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and assured him of all required help from the Centre in dealing with the situation.
The Prime Minister spoke to the Chief Minister to enquire about the steps being taken to restore peace in the areas which have witnessed violence, a PMO statement said. “The Prime Minister condemned the violence and expressed grief and shock over the loss of innocent lives,” it said.
Singh assured Yadav that the Centre will extend all required assistance to the State Government in tackling the situation, the statement said. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Home RPN Singh said 5,000 paramilitary force personnel have already been sent to violence-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh, in addition to Army personnel.
“If necessary, we are ready to provide more forces,” he said in Delhi. Union Home Ministry has asked the UP Government to send situation report every 12 hours till normalcy returns in riot-hit areas.
Curfew has been clamped in riot-hit areas of Muzaffarnagar and the Army has staged flag marches there to restore order. Tension prevailing in the rural areas was a matter of serious concern and this needed to be curtailed, said MHA officials.
The Centre asked Governments of UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir — all of whom have witnessed communal violence in recent past — to be extra vigilant and to effectively deal with petty skirmishes to avert any communal flare-up.