Valmikis will not be evicted from Rampur, community's demands will be accepted: NSCS

District administration officials signed an agreement with the protesters, assuring them that the Valmiki community's demands will be accepted.

The agitated members of Rampur's Valmiki community have been pacified for now. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), Uttar Pradesh Police and Rampur district administration have assured the community members that they shall not be evicted from the town's Topkhana area.

Moreover, the cases registered against the community members in the recent days shall be withdrawn, they said.

NCSC vice-chairman Raj Kumar Verka, Bareilly IG Vijay Kumar Meera and Rampur district magistrate C.P. Tripathi on Friday visited the site where the Valmiki community members have been agitating.

The officials later signed an agreement with the protesters, assuring that the demands of the community shall be accepted.

Verka also assured that the arrested protesters shall be released. These Valmiki protesters were arrested on Wednesday for burning the effigy of the Uttar Pradesh government.

Community leader Shambhunath Valmiki said, "We have discontinued our dharna and hunger strike after Verka's visit. We have signed an agreement under which we shall not be evicted from Topkhana area, and all police cases against us shall be withdrawn. We will wait for the state government's move before deciding our future strategy."

Meanwhile, Mufti Syed Shahid Ali Hasani Nuri Jamali, Kazi-e-Sharah of Barelvi sect of Rampur, has called upon the Valmiki community to keep Islam away from their agitation. "Some political leaders are trying to re-launch themselves in politics by using the agitation of the Valmiki community," he said.

Mukarrar Raza Khan Inayati, a member of the UP Urdu Academy has also issued a statement, saying it was a legal battle in which religion and politics cannot be mixed. "The High Court has already said that it is an unauthorised colony. But some political parties are trying to use the situation to make gains," he said.

Ever since the Valmiki community had begun their agitation, the state government has been under pressure to act.

The Valmiki community leaders in Sambhal, Amroha and Moradabad have threatened to agitate against the "atrocities of the SP government." The BJP's Anusuchit Jati Morcha extended their support to the agitating Valmikis.