The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the 26 January Kasganj incident in Uttar Pradesh in which one person died. Speaking on the admissibility notice on the Kasganj incident in the Vidhan Sabha, leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary said the incident was a deliberate and pre-planned one. He demanded an impartial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge and compensation to those whose shops were burnt in the communal flare-up. He also demanded that more compensation be given to the family members of the youth who was killed.
Chaudhary said the incident was aimed at creating communal disharmony and regretted that differences have reached this stage between two communities, whose members had once laid down their lives for the independence of the country. Recounting the sequence of events which led to the flare-up, the Samajwadi Party leader said some 100 to 125 motorcycles, with two to three youths on each took out a tiranga yatra.
They passed through a locality where some Muslims had assembled for the hoisting of the national flag. They were asked to remove their chairs by the youth. What followed was an altercation which later escalated into a communal flare-up leading to the death of one youth. Chaudhary said he had two CDs which indicated that the whole incident was a pre-meditated one. He wondered which direction the state was going.
Leader of the BSP legislature Party Lalji Verma termed the Kasganj incident as an unfortunate one and wondered if this was a government which was running on the precepts of law. He said the BJP wanted communal flare-ups as elections 2019 were close.
Verma also demanded an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge and an increase in the compensation amount to the aggrieved. BSP leader Sukhdev Rajbhar decried the springing up of 15-20 `senas’. Parliamentary Affairs minister Suresh Khanna said the Kasganj incident was an unfortunate one and was not good for the government. He blamed the Opposition for vitiating the atmosphere and stressed that the government took all possible steps to contain the flare-up. Immediate police patrolling was provided, he added.
Khanna said what the Opposition leaders spoke about were the developments after the incident had taken place. He said if anyone wants to take out a procession or carry out a similar activity, permission from the administration has to be taken. He said since the past 25 years a tiranga yatra has been taken out on 26 January. This year too it was taken out.
However, when the processionists found their movements being impeded at a crossing an altercation took place. What followed was a reaction to this action. He added had the yatra been allowed to move smoothly this would not have taken place. The SP members later staged a sit-in in the well of the Assembly following which Speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit adjourned the House.