The issue of communal riots rocked the Vidhan Sabha during question hour on Monday over incarceration of innocent people for their involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots leading to noisy walkout by both BJP and BSP members. State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mohammad Azam Khan said that just two communal riots took place in the state since March 2013 and till date,. “Two communal riots took place in that period. The Muzaffarnagar riots took place in 2013 and Saharanpur riots in 2014. The other incidents were criminal clashes,” the minister said while answering a question of Nadim Javed (Congress) and Suresh Rana (BJP.
Giving details of the Muzaffarnagar riots the minister said that 477 cases were registered in which 1359 people have been made accused. Altogether 1046 criminals have been arrested and action have been taken against 1349 people. In Saharanpur 237 cases were registered in which 229 people have been made accused and 99 of them have been arrested, Khan said. However, Nadim Javed alleged that the government was trying coverer up its failure by projecting communal clashes as criminal incidents because in the same period Central government records say that 247 communal riots took place in the state.
But the minister maintained that the Central record also say that in 2013 the number of communal riots were 247 and in 2014 it came down to 140 while in other places particularly in the BJP ruled states the number has gone up. Azam Khan even said that Congress was responsible for Ayodhya demolition which led to bitterness in relations between minority and the majority community.
BJP member Suresh Rana said that around 500 innocent people who have been jailed after Muzaffarnagar riots should be released as most of them are senior citizens. He also claimed that police registered case against nine people who are already dead. But the minister did not commit anything on the issue which forced the BJP to stage a walkout.
The BSP also staged a walkout alleging that Muzaffarnagar riots accused were being given police protection. East UP: Demanding a separate budget for the eastern UP Dr Radha Mohan Das Agarwal (BJP) said that this region of the state was the most backward in all the parameters including education, health and infrastructure development. Raising the issue during zero hour he said that the ratio of number of primary schools in one lakh population is least in eastern UP as compared to other three regions of the state. The State GDP of Eastern UP is Rs 21,283 while it is Rs 38,500 in west UP, Rs 30,726 in Central UP and Rs 36,304 in Bundelkhand.
Similarly the CD ratio in eastern UP is 25 per cent while it is 52 per cent in Bundelkhand, 54 per cent in West UP and 46 per cent in Central UP. This shows the money save in eastern UP is used in development of other states, he said. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Azam Khan said that the government will take action to bring parity among all the four regions of the state. .