'Lack of opportunities, facilities behind Kairana exodus'

New Delhi, June 17 Lack of opportunities and proper facilities -- and not the fear of a "particular community" as alleged by the BJP -- is what has been driving several families out of western Uttar Pradesh towns Kairana and Kandhala, a group of opposition MPs that visited the two towns a day before said here on Friday.

The delegation -- comprising K.C. Tyagi of Janata Dal-United, Mohammed Salim of Communist Party of India-Marxist, D. Raja of Communist Party of India, D.P. Tripathi of Nationalist Congress Party and Manoj Jha of Rashtriya Janata Dal -- made the observation after returning from Kairana in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh. 

"The members held extensive meeting with the cross-section of people, community associations and members of the local bar association as well as citizens. 

"On the basis of the feedback and the insightful interaction, the members are of the unanimous view that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to create a Muzaffarnagar-like context in Kairana and Kandhala," a joint statement by the delegation said. 

“Regarding a few cases of migration, which happened to be from the both the communities, people highlighted poor facilities of education, lack of proper medical care, unavailability of employment opportunities apart from grim law and order situation as the triggers," the group observed.

The delegation said in their view, “the BJP and in particular its national president Amit Shah wanted to re-enact the script of post-Godhra (Gujarat) riots and Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) killings” to reap electoral benefits in the Uttar Pradesh elections which are due next year. 

“The members strongly condemn the politics of demonisation and polarisation unleashed by the top BJP leadership,” the statement said. 

The group, nevertheless, was “happy to see the nature and extent of positive bonding between the communities” in spite of the “forces committed to divide them”.

The delegation also urged the Uttar Pradesh government to “beef up law and order” and take all the necessary steps so that “the BJP and the Sangh Parivar fail to drive wedges” between communities.