Muslims have seized Kairana: BJP team

KAIRANA: Saharanpur MP Raghav Lakhanpal on Wednesday said “the plight of Hindus in Kairana was no different from that of Kashmiri Pundits and there has been a mass exodus of Hindus from Kairana in the last four years.” Lakhanpal said the situation in UP was like a nineties hindi movie where people used to be shot point blank for money by gangsters empowered by state government.

“These goons are in jails but they control extortion business through mobiles. Hindu traders told us they have no option but to flee Kairana,” the MP said. Lakhanpal was part of the nine-member team that arrived in Kairana for an on-the-spot evaluation of the situation created by exodus of Hindus in the morning around 10 am. From “Hindus fleeing Kairana,” the BJP’s stand on Wednesday changed to “Muslims taking over Kairana.”

Alleging that the population of Kairana was 92% Muslims now, bringing down the Hindus to a mere 8%, the BJP leaders said they will submit a report of their findings in Kairana to BJP president Amit Shah in a week.

Apart from Lakhanpal the delegation had Bagpat MP Satyapal Singh, Aligarh MP Satish Gautam, former Uttar Pradesh DGP Brij Lal, senior BJP leader Suresh Khanna, Aawala MP Dharmendra Kashyap, Bulandshahar MP Bhola Nath Singh, Gorakhpur MLA Radha Mohan and BJP’s Human Right Commission Wing national president Sudhir Aggrawal. The team first met traders and people of the Kashyap community to talk about the recent incident of rape.

They went to the houses of families allegedly harassed by extortionists too. A huge illegal cattle slaughter house coming up in Kairana and areas surrounding Devi temple in Kairana becoming a hub of Muslim goons were among prominent issues raised in the meetings. The team members said “Hindus in Kairana said that they were selling off their property to Muslims at throwaway prices.”

“People told us that extortion, land grab, crime against women, illegal cow slaughter have become the order of the day in the area,” Mohit Beniwal, State Secretary, BJYM, UP Coordinator for the visit, said, “shop owners told us Muslims buy stuff from them and come back in groups to return it after days of use.”

List of Hindus forced out of Kairana by MP Hukum Singh may have problems but the party stands by the issue, the delegation members said. The Centre has also sought a detailed report on the migration from Kairana. CM Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said it is the habit of the saffron party to rake up such issues just before the polls.

The "exodus" of Hindus from Kairana alleged
by MP Hukum Singh received much attention during the BJP's national executive in Allahabad on Sunday but several Hindu families part of his list have denied fleeing Kairana out of fear.

When asked if his list was "exaggerated" Hukum Singh himself said on Monday that it is not a "Hindu-Muslim issue".

UP administration said they have been conducting a door to door survey over the last few days to verify Hukum Singh's claims. Till Tuesday, they had verified 119 names of which four were found to be dead, 68 had left Kairana a decade ago and 35 had left the village in search of better livelihood, an official said.

Following the BJP team's visit five Opposition parties comprising JD(U) secretary-general K C Tyagi , Mohd Salim of CPM, D Raja of CPI, D P Tripathi of NCP and Manoj Jha of RJD will visit Kairana and Kandhla towns in Shamli district of western UP Thursday to “ascertain facts”.