FEBRUARY 2014

POINT
OUT
facilities, rehabilitation, poor sanitation
and insensitivity of the district administration
and state government to growing
opposition jibes, the Yadav senior (Mulayam
Singh) and junior appear to be
cornered.
Confusion is so confounded that after
denying irregularities at the riot-camps,
the state is now clueless. The issue has
remained alive all through with a senior
officer, Anil Gupta, Principal Secretary
(Home), while refuting deaths of children
due to cold wave at the relief camps suggested
that “no one can die of cold.”
The statement of Gupta drew flak
from the opposition political parties and
the NGOs in the state and even before
the brouhaha over it could stop came
reports that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists
tried to recruit men from riot-hit
families. The reports have been attributed
to two Muslim clerics, who were arrested
by the Delhi Police.
Amidst the controversy, SP chief
Mulayam Singh Yadav, too did his bit by
accusing people living in the riot camps
as agents of the Congress party. His
comments sparked off unsavory duel
with the Congress. The handling of the
Muzaffarnagar riots and subsequent situation
has also led to unease among the
Samajwadi Party. Maulana Tauqir Raza,
an adviser to the UP Handloom Corporation,
who has been accorded the status
of a minister of state has questioned
Mulayam asking for an inquiry why he
failed to visit Muzaffarnagar during or
after the riots.
Similarly, the Darul Uloom, Deoband
has termed Mulayam a friend of the
Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS).
The annual Saifai Mahotsav organized
by the chief minister in his backyard,
too has come under flak for the festivities
and expenditure incurred on it while riot
victims were suffering. Amidst reports of
Bollywood stars making a beeline at the
fortnight long festival, Chief Minister
The annual Saifai Mahotsav
organized by the chief minister
in his backyard, too has come
under flak for the festivities and
expenditure incurred on it while riot
victims were suffering
Akhilesh Yadav lashed on to the media
for giving negative publicity to the government.
“Saifai Mahotsav has been organized
to boost tourism, infrastructure
and invite investments to the backward
area. We have been holding the festival
for the past several years, whether we
were in power or not,” he said.
“Local people in and around Saifai
have been waiting for this event for the
last one year. They have prepared for it,”
he added.
Like the Saifai festival, a junket of legislators
including minister Azam Khan to
Europe claimed as a ‘study tour’ also led
to a furore. So much so, that the visiting
team had to cut short its visit and return
home. An angry Azam on his return paraded
some of the MLAs who travelled
with him and tried to defend the junket.
But the junket too has been linked with
the sufferings of the riot-hit. An angry
Khan alleged that “by linking the tour
with the plight of Muzaffarnagar riots
victims, a section of the media was playing
up to the fascist forces.”
With general elections to the Lok Sabha
just few months away, Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav wants the camps to be
wound up, as swiftly as he started them.
10
FEBRUARY 2014