US report on Uttar Pradesh communal clashes a 'conspiracy': Samajwadi Party

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party today said that a recent US report on communal clashes was a "conspiracy" against Uttar Pradesh government to defame it in international media.

"It seems that some forces are trying to defame the state in international media and the mandate given to the SP. They are trying to create hurdle in development works being initiated in the state," SP spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury said here.

A recent US report, released by Secretary of State John Kerry, had stated that UP saw the maximum number of deaths in communal clashes in the country in 2013.

The US State Department in its annual Congressional-mandated 'International Religious Freedom Report' for 2013 had stated that UP experienced the highest number of deaths in communal unrest for the second consecutive year, including the 65 killed in communal violence in Muzaffarnagar.

Chowdhury said the SP government took strict action in Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur, where tension erupted, and controlled the situation.

The government had also taken initiatives to give relief to the victims of the riots, he said.