Delhi/Lucknow: Regardless of whether there is a “Hindu exodus” or not, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the big brother of the Sangh Parivar, has moved in to make Kairana, regardless of the facts, an emotive issue. The latest edition of the RSS mouthpiece Organiser talks of “human rights violations” against Hindus while putting forth the theory that several villages are undergoing a “demographic change”.
The RSS mouthpiece has also hinted at an “ISI connection” in this “demographic offensive” unleashed by a particular community.
As if that was not enough, BJP MLA Sangeet Som, an accused in Muzaffarnagar riots case, will also begin a “padayatra” on Friday from Meerut, which will culminate in Kairana in Shamli district next week. Mr Som’s “Nirbhay Yatra” is apparently aimed at assuring people that the BJP “will support them whenever needed.”
Som’s attempt to steal the thunder has, however, not pleased local member of Parliament Hukum Singh who was the first to raise the “Hindu exodus” controversy but later backed off saying that it “is a law and order problem and not a communal issue.” Making his displeasure clear, Hukum Singh said, “Som’s visit can lead to communal tension. It will be better if he does not come here”.
Unfazed by Hukum Singh’s reaction to his proposed visit, Som said, “The common man is not feeling safe and is helpless as he has no option but to live in an unsafe environment the Uttar Pradesh government is fully responsible for this. I have spoken to a number of people and all of them have similar apprehensions. The list, which was released by BJP MP Hukum Singh, included only 346 families from Kairana and 83 from Kandhla, whereas the real number is much higher. A number of families have left and others want to leave.”
Meanwhile, the BJP fact-finding team that had visited Kairana submitted its report to party president Amit Shah on Thursday.
The RSS, in its bid to keep the Kairana issue burning, presented “a report with some untold stories” on Kairana, writing in the Organiser, “For the last few years this identity of Shamli as a prosperous district is under scrutiny due to demographic offensive opted by anti-social elements. More than 350 Hindu families of Kairana have been forced to leave their ancestral houses and thriving business establishments.”
After narrating the “untold stories”, the RSS mouthpiece says that “ground realities of Kairana tell many stories of human rights violations of religious minority in some pockets of this region.” As per the 2011 census, Kairana has nearly 80 per cent Muslims and 15 per cent Hindus.
Claiming that Kairana was “not an aberration”, the article stated that “the phenomenon of demographic offensive is not limited to Kairana. Many towns of Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts are facing the same menace. The adjoining localities of Kairana, Jharkhedi, Titarwada, Unchakhedi, Ramda, Malakpur etc, are facing the same fate demographic imbalance and invasion.”
It further stated that “the episodes of persecution and criminalisation are suspected to have link with the ISI.
