Kairana 'exodus': 188 families, including Muslims, left 5 years ago, says Shamli district admin

A probe being conducted by the Shamli district administration into the alleged migration from Kairana has found that in the list of 346 families, who had apparently left the region, 188 had left over five years ago.

A home department spokesman said that on verification of the list of 346 families provided by BJP MP Hukum Singh, it was found that 66 families had left Kairana 10 years ago. It was also found that 60 families were living elsewhere for reasons relating to education, employment, health, or others, the spokesman said.

As many as 28 families mentioned in the list are still residing in Kairana, the spokesman said. The spokesman also added that names of seven families have been mentioned in the list twice and five who were on government service have left the town after retirement.

The inquiry has, however, found that in three cases, the families had faced ‘rangdari’ threats and police took timely action. Some cases of Muslim families leaving Kairana and moving elsewhere in search of livelihood and education have also come to light, the spokesman said.

A DNA report also said that another list, compiled by locals, had been handed over to the district magistrate and contains names of 45 Muslim residents who had also left Kairana. The report further said that the compilers of the list also claimed that another 145 Muslims had left Kairana in the last few years, which they will mention in their second list to the district magistrate.

“Our aim is not to tell the administration that Muslim families have been forced to leave but to simply let the world know that migration of both communities has been taking place in Kairana for the last 10-15 years. There are number of reasons behind migration and crime is not the only one,” the report quoted one of the compilers of the list as saying.

On the other hand, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said BJP does not want to “communalise or polarise” the UP elections, but the state government must address the issue if there is “even some evidence of migration” from Kairana.

“We don’t want in anyway to communalise or polarise the election, but if there is even some evidence of migration taking place from Kairana, it’s an important issue that the state government there must address it,” Jaitley told Times Now.

Asked about the statements being made by some BJP leaders from the region, Jaitley said, “At the end of the day, whatever statements are made in public domain are in public domain.”

On Friday, BJP MLA Sangeet Som had led a rally in Kairana, where prohibitory orders are in place. Atul Pradhan of the Samajwadi Party had also led a similar rally. Both politicians, the report added, did not have permission to hold the rallies and were stopped.

Som, who led the ‘Nirbhay’ yatra was stopped around two km from his parliamentary constituency Sardana. Pradhan’s ‘Sadhbhavna’ rally saw 500 people who set out from Meerut to Kairana. Som had then issued an ultimatum to the UP government and had asked it to ensure that people who migrated were brought back.

On Thursday, the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya had said that besides the problem of law and order, it was the terror faced by a section of the society, which led to the alleged Hindu migration in Kairana.

He had also said that the district administration failed to check migration because of “government pressure” and that the report of the probe team sent by BJP to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the large scale migration will be handed over to Governor Ram Naik on Friday.

(With inputs from PTI)