After alleging “Hindu exodus” from Kairana and Kandhla, two towns of Shamli district, BJP MP from Shamli, Hukum Singh, said on Wednesday that given the “deteriorating” law and order situation he will come up with a similar list for Shamli city in the next three days.
His announcement comes days after a group of criminals fired at a trader in Shamli city after he allegedly refused to give them extortion money of Rs. 10 lakh.
Charging that there were criminal gangs operating from jail in Shamli, Mr. Singh said, “I have been raising the issue of Kairana and Kandhla but Shamli also comes in my constituency and I am extremely disturbed at the way it is going. Criminals are terrorising the public and the police have failed to uphold the rule of law.”
Mr. Singh who had sat on a dharna in Shamli on Tuesday over the ‘worsening’ law and order situation, told The Hindu on Wednesday, “The attack on a chemist in Shamli only proves what I have been saying for quite some time now. I have already announced that if law and order continues to worsen like this I will release a list about Shamli in the next three days”. “The local police know who these criminals are who fired at the trader on Tuesday. But they are completely hand in glove with the criminals and also fully discredited now. If they fail to apprehend the criminals I will announce my next course of action on June 24,” Mr. Singh said.
The BJP MP from Shamli faced a lot of flak for alleging “Hindu exodus” when the situation on the ground suggested that the migration from Kairana and Kandhla was due to reasons related to employment and search for better livelihood and not due to any communal threats by local Muslims.
Later, many independent investigations by the media and local administration showed that many people mentioned in the MP’s list of those who had left were still living in the areas and a large chunk of them left to areas with much better infrastructure and livelihood opportunities than those available in Kairana.
Several local BJP leaders like Union Minister and Muzaffarnagar MP Sanjeev Balyan distanced himself from Mr. Singh’s charge of “exodus”.
Mr. Balyan had said that the “migration problem” was not only restricted to Kairana in the State. “It [exodus] is a law and order issue and the problem should not be connected with communalism,” said Mr. Balyan adding that his comments were based on the information provided by a BJP team that was sent to assess the situation in Kairana.
Mr. Singh hit out at Mr. Balyan and said that the Muslims who migrated from Kairana include “dreaded gangsters” like Iqbal Kana and Dishad. “Yes, I agree that Muslims also migrated from Kairana and I also have their list and they include the dreaded gangsters like Haji Sandh and Iqbal Kana who are infamous for their criminal activities near Pakistan border.”
The district magistrate of Shamli Sujith Kumar, however, said that nobody need worry as the situation in Shamli was “under control”. “Nobody needs to be scared. We have improved policing and law and order situation. We will ensure security to everybody including the trader community,” said the DM.
