Kairana row: Sangeet Som suspends march; gives 15-day ultimatum to UP govt

Muzaffarnagar: Prohibitory orders have been enforced across Shamli district and borders of Kairana sealed even as BJP MLA Sangeet Som on Friday suspended his march to the town caught in the migration row and gave a 15-day ultimatum to UP government to bring back those who allegedly migrated.

Som had started his rally to Kairana from his house in Sardhana with thousands of followers but was stopped at the border of the town keeping in mind the situation, Meerut District Collector Pankaj Yadav said.

A rally by Samawadi Party, led by party leader Atul Pradhan, was also stopped some distance from Sardhana town limits, he said.

"As a precautionary measure police and PAC have been stationed in heavy numbers. Section 144 is in force. No one will be allowed to break the law in this situation," Yadav said.

Shamli District Magistrate Sujit Kumar told PTI that prohibitory orders are enforced across Shamli district, including Kairana town, and any march or yatra with political leaders would not be allowed without permission. All entrances to Kairana have been sealed with the deployment of paramilitary forces with security officials keeping a watch on the situation.

Som said he postponed his 'Nirbhay' rally after prohibitory orders were enforced. "We've given a 15 days ultimatum. Either the government gets back the people who've migrated or we'll have to take to the streets," he said.

"If in 15 days they do not return we're warning that no one will be able to stop BJP workers from going to Kairana or to any other place," he said.

"We'll follow the law. The senior authorities gave us notice that section 144 of the CrPC was imposed so we've postponed the rally," Som said.

"UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya called up and said that wherever the authorities stop you, you have to abide by the law," Som said while appealing to people to follow the law.

Pradhan said Som is an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and it was to counter his "malicious" efforts that they attempted to hold the Sadbhavna rally.

BJP MP Hukum Singh had earlier released a list of 346 families who had allegedly been forced to flee the town, which has 85 per cent Muslim population. Kairana is in Shamli district which witnessed communal riots in 2013.

The BJP MP later made a u-turn, saying the "migration" of Hindus from Kairana was "not communal" in nature but had more to do with the law and order situation even as he claimed the number of families that had to flee can go up to 400-500.

A delegation of leaders of five parties that visited the town yesterday hit out at BJP for giving a communal angle to the even as the saffron party took a swipe at JD(U) and RJD, which were part of the group, for vitiating the atmosphere after failing to run Bihar.

However, JD(U) MP and spokesperson K C Tyagi, who along with D Raja of CPI and Mohammad Salim of CPI-M, D P Tripathi of NCP and RJD's Manoj Jha went to the western Uttar Pradesh town, said the area was hit by poor law and order, forcing many families to leave over the years.

"BJP has given it a communal colour for political reasons. It is condemnable. Thanks to media probe it was forced to backtrack. Poor law and order is a problem there, as is the case in many parts of Uttar Pradesh," he said.

BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma, however, insisted that the party had from day one called it a law and order problem and not linked the migration to any religion.