State: Chaos in Uttar Pradesh
Intro:Considering the volume of crime, rapes and murderous assaults taking place in several parts of UP, the people whose mandate gave BJP the power to rule at the Centre,
clamour for President’s rule. And the sooner it happens the better, it is.
Not surprising that the State of Uttar Pradesh has become ‘Badtar Pradesh’ now, and rapes have become a regular feature. CM’s father, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav himself had stated publically that rape is not so serious a crime, and that ladkon se aisee chhoti galtiyan ho hi jaya karti hain. After massive public outrage over Badaun rape case and murder, of which even United Nations took cognisance and the Hon’ble High Court decided to monitor the investigations. Consequently the CM had to summon a high power meeting of the top administrative officials. Everyone had expected that the situation would improve, but most unfortunately, the situation has worsened. In Badaun itself there are reports from Islampur Village that a Samajwadi Party MLA held a minor girl hostage and raped her for about a month. “I was threatened that my family would be eliminated if I opened my mouth”, the girl said.
In Bahraich another woman was raped and found hanging, just because she had objected to the making and selling of illicit liquor in her vicinity. In yet another instance a police inspector in Hameerpur raped a woman who had gone to the police station to rescue her husband who was detained unlawfully.
As if this was not sufficient, the criminals are not even sparing the BJP leaders in western UP where at least two of them have been brutally murdered in Dadri (Gautam Budh Nagar) and Muzaffarnagar.
Samajwadi Party have lost all credibility and moral justification to continue after the recent disgraceful debacle in Lok Sabha polls. After all, ‘Abki Bar’ ki ‘Modi Sarkar’ can’t brush aside people’s aspirations just by stating that they are not ruling the State of UP and therefore it is not their responsibility. People’s mandate and their aspirations do not give scope to such flimsy arguments. They had asked for votes in the name of sushasan and suraksha.
The twin murder of BJP leaders in the western UP has shocked everyone. It is a challenge to the BJP government at the Centre. The chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was addressing a high-level meeting of the top brass of his administration, telling them that ‘he would brook no compromise’ on law and order, and the murder of BJP leader was taking place almost simultaneously in Muzaffarnagar.
The massive outrage in Badaun had not stopped and Vijay Pandit, a 27-year-old BJP leader, was killed in Dadri, Gautam Budhnagar. Pandit had led the election campaign for the local BJP candidate in the recent elections. His family members alleged that Pandit had been threatened by political rivals and the police were informed about it.
And within a few days another BJP leader was gunned down in Muzaffarnagar in an early morning shoot-out in western UP. In this incident, Omveer (40), the Vice-President of the Panchayat cell of the BJP's Muzaffarnagar district unit, was shot dead at around 7 am. The killers were lying in ambush, waiting for Omveer at a lonely spot near Meerpur town of the district. As the BJP leader crossed them on his motorcycle, they shot him from behind, using the country-made pistols. The assailants even took away Omveer's revolver. This murder, just two days after Vijay Pandit's killing in Dadri, has again raised serious questions about the Akhilesh Yadav regime's capability to control the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
Mr. Pandit’s wife and Dadri Nagar Panchayat chairman Geeta Pandit has named Samajwadi Party leader Narendra Bhati and noted gangster Anil Dujana as those behind the murder of her husband. Dujana is currently lodged in Dasna Jail. However, the police have refused to enter his name in the FIR, interrogate him or take any action against him. And, his brother Lokesh Pandit has asked for CBI enquiry to find the real accused.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that twenty people have been taken into custody for questioning in connection with the murder of BJP leader in Muzaffarnagar. Circle Officer, Mahesh Mishra claimed that the police have registered a case against two unidentified persons in the case. The Noida Police have also detained four persons in connection with the murder of BJP leader Vijay Pandit in Greater Noida. However, the police are yet to make any arrests. The State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai has condemned the incident and said the chief minister seemed to have lost the political will to take control of the situation. “The chief minister should first set his party workers right since they are mostly responsible for the breakdown of the law and order situation,” he said. “There is no law and order in UP. There is no government there. In addition, UP government's response is very casual to such crimes. Such a response not only encourages the criminals but also gives no relief to the victims of these crimes,” said BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
—Dr Shakti Kumar Pandey
from Lucknow
