Rahul Gandhi visits Muzaffarnagar, says Relief camps in very bad state, Akhilesh must act

Rahul Gandhi visits Muzaffarnagar, says Relief camps in very bad state, Akhilesh must act
Muzaffarnagar: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi made an unannounced visit to the relief camps at Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. He criticised the Uttar Pradesh government for not doing enough to improve conditions at relief camps for persons affected by recent communal riots as he visited five such shelters in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.

Rahul Gandhi, after visiting affected people from both communities, urged the UP government to intervene and improve living conditions in relief camps. “The conditions are very bad. Children are dying here. There is a need for the state government to help them,” said the Congress Member of Parliament from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, adding, “UP has a young chief minister (Akhilesh Yadav). He should focus on improving conditions in camps and work to ensure that victims return to their homes.”

"Wherever I went, people spoke about brotherhood and said communal forces were responsible for the clashes here. The situation in the relief camps is very bad and the UP government must intervene immediately," said Rahul Gandhi. "UP has a young chief minister. I want to tell him to focus on the camps and mediate between the two communities," quipped the Congress leader.

“I came here in the morning to see the situation myself. I met people across all communities who are affected by the riots.. Two things should be done: camp conditions need to be worked on and mediation has to take place.. Wherever I went, people told me that communal forces have done this. They said there is no enmity between us, there is brotherhood here.. I appeal to the youth leaders to focus on this matter and improve conditions in the camps.. We have no animosity with the Samajwadi Party government, but Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav should focus a bit more on the Muzaffarnagar relief camps,” said Rahul Gandhi while talking to the media after the visit.

Beginning his visit early in the morning, Rahul Gandhi first went to the Malakpur camp in Shamli district, where at least 35 children are reported to have died due to the extreme cold in recent weeks. Chowdhary Gulshad, who escorted Rahul through the camp, said, "We were sitting and drinking tea when Rahul Gandhi suddenly arrived unannounced. He asked us about the situation in the camp and we were very frank." Gulshad said he described the poor sanitary conditions, lack of blankets and support from the UP government and the need for a permanent settlement for the 4,000-odd refugees in the area. "He (Rahul Gandhi) listened to us and even spoke to the children. We told him the central government could intervene in allotment of land for a permanent solution. He smiled and promised to do something for us. This is the first time a senior politician has visited us," said Gulshad.



Rahul Gandhi also visited the Khurgaon, Sumeti and Barnavi camps in Shamli. "He spent about 15 minutes here and shared a cup of tea with us. He asked if we would return to our villages — Lakh, Lisarh or Bhavdi — which witnessed some of the worst violence between September 7 and September 10. Everybody said we would go anywhere but back to our villages," said Aladin Pradhan from Barnavi.

Rahul Gandhi, along with Union Minister of State for Home R P N Singh and AICC general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, visited a Jat family in Kakda village. "He spoke to the family about the incident and asked if things could return to normal," said a senior district official. Rahul Gandhi also met smaller gatherings at chaupals. "They were also saying there is no communal divide between the two communities and this was engineered for politics. While some politicians will be gaining from this, you and your agriculture will suffer," said Rahul Gandhi.