MUZAFFARNAGAR: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday came face to face with the communal divide in western Uttar Pradesh, and also saw their visit to the riot-hit areas itself becoming a point of discord.

Within hours of their leaving Malikpur, the inhabitants of the jat-dominated village lamented that they chose to meet Muslims in the relief camps in Muzaffarnagar but ignored those from the majority community who have been equally affected by the communal clashes. Interestingly, jats did not seem impressed by Sonia and Rahul either even though the mother-son duo had, on the advice of a UP government officer, made brief unscheduled stops at jat-dominated Bawali and Khanjpura.

Alleging disparity, jats said they were ignored. “Haven’t we lost our dear ones? It seems that only they (Muslims) have been pained,” was the unanimous reaction in the village.

Malikpur is next to Kawal, the Muslim-dominated village where a clash between two groups of youths on August 27 resulted in the deaths of Shahnawaz, Gaurav and Sachin and provided the spark for the communal conflagration.

The PM and the Gandhis, accompanied by minister of state for home R P N Singh, must have had an understanding of the gulf that separates jats from Muslims when they interacted with Muslim victims at the Bassi Kalan relief camp. Those at the camp, like others in Tawli, detailed horror stories during the 45 minutes the leaders spent with them. And they were almost unanimous that they were not going to go back to their villages even if the jats came calling.

Several female Muslim riot survivors from different villages narrated to the Congress chief how in a flash they were dispossessed of everything they owned. The survivors also apprised the leaders of the irresponsible attitude of police and administration when it came to their safety and alleged that they feared for their life every moment.

Forty two-year-old Jameel Bassi, who is from Kutubi, said, “We told the PM that we don’t want to go back to our village. There is threat to our lives.” Bassi was seen weeping during the interaction. “The PM said all help will be extended to us by the state and central governments.”

The ire of the people here is directed against the political class as a whole. “So many people from our community were brutally butchered over the past few weeks with our meetings being hijacked. There are so many villages in this whole belt where so many jats have also left their villages due to fear and they are hiding at residences of their relatives or in other cities. However, the PM only comes and meets people in relief camps of Muslims. Hasn’t my son died in the same violence,” asked Ravinder Singh, father of Gaurav who along with his cousin Sachin was killed in a clash at Kawal.

“I am here to share your pain,” the PM said while consoling people in the Bassi Kalan camp, the largest among 47 camps set up in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts by the UP government. It shelters 1,500 people belonging to 140 families. Significantly, Vipin Kumar Maitrey, district programme officer and nodal officer of the camp, said more were still trooping in.

Speaking to reporters after meeting survivors, PM assured Centre’s full support to the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government in tackling the situation and said that the guilty must be punished. Before heading for another camp in Tawli village, the Prime Minister said that the “perpetrators of the riots will be given strictest punishment”.

“I, Soniaji and Rahul Gandhi have come here to join you (riots survivors) in your pain and sorrow and to make an assessment of the incident. This is a very tragic incident and whoever is responsible for this, must be duly punished. It is the duty of the government to safeguard life and property so that people can once again settle in their homes,” he said. “The Centre will fully support the UP government. And, in addition, our efforts will be to ensure that strict action is taken against all those responsible for the riot.”

Sonia and Rahul also interacted with the people living in the relief camp. Sonia even moved away from the barricade and interacted with women refugees sheltered there. A woman survivor from Kutuba said, “The gram pradhan of our village called some members of our community few days back at his residence on the pretext of providing shelter but he got all of them butchered.”

After the two camps, PM, Sonia and Rahul went to the residence of journalist Rajesh Verma at Muzaffarnagar before leaving for Delhi around 1:30 pm. During their visit in riot hit Muzaffarnagar, a heavy security arrangement was made on roads, houses with army, RAF, CRPF and UP police officers standing at every few meters and SPG taking charge of first security cordon of the VVIPs.

The PM's last visit to riot-affected areas was in Assam last year. A meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) has also been convened on September 23 to discuss the increasing communal

incidents.

