Muzaffarnagar riots: UP Governor pulls up Akhilesh govt

The bloody communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district have left 26 people dead. Uttar Pradesh Governor BL Joshi has pulled up the Akhilesh Yadav government and has singled out the local administration for failing to maintain peace in a report sent to the Home Ministry on Sunday night.

Also Read: 21 dead in Muzaffarnagar, Opposition slams Akhilesh govt

The UP Governor has also called for more police presence in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas. Schools and colleges are shut for the next three days. A curfew is on three police station zones in Muzaffarnagar with the Army carrying out flag marches in rural areas.

Meanwhile, politics is at play over the Muzzafarnagar riots. The Bharatiya Janata Party is sending a fact-finding team to visit Muzaffarnagar despite prohibitory orders by the Uttar Pradesh administration. The 3-member fact finding team of the BJP, headed by Ravi Shankar Prasad is headed to Muzzafarnagar.

The Akhilesh Yadav government in the state is under fire from the Opposition as well for the deteriorating law and order situation. The RLD and the BSP have demanded Akhilesh's resignation and have sought president's rule in the state.

Police say violence spread to villages making the situation tough to handle, but things are now under control. Along with the Army, the Rapid Action Force, Provincial Armed Constabulary and the state police are out on the streets and schools and colleges are shut for the next three days.

The police have named senior politicians in the FIR filed for attending the mahapanchayat held by a community. UP Home Secretary Kamal Saxena said fake videos about communal clashes are being circulated through social media to disturb the communal harmony in the state. "People are trying to spread rumours to disturb communal harmony through social media and using fake videos to disturb communal harmony in the state. Strict action will be taken against them," said Saxena.

On the state government's delay in response to the clashes, Saxena said that the clashes could not be controlled as it had spread to interior areas of the district. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is also in touch with Akhilesh Yadav to keep a close watch on the situation, Minister of State (Home) RPN Singh said.

"The Home Minister himself has spoken to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The communal disharmony in the state is a problem and steps have to be taken to solve the crisis," RPN Singh. Muslim clerics, meanwhile, have appealed for calm. They cautioned the people against "political conspiracies" aimed at dividing them on religious lines and appealed for peace and harmony in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Muzaffarnagar violence in condemnable.... For past few days, there were attempts to create tension in western UP.... The violence there is result of political game, which should be exposed," said All India Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahli. The clashes were sparked off after a huge convention of a particular community had gathered in the town on Sunday to protest against several cases of sexual harassment reported in the past couple of weeks.

According to local police some participants in this convention got into a fight with villagers on the outskirts of Muzaffarnagar. As this group got into town, some of those who had been beaten up started ransacking shops. IBN7 journalist Rajesh Verma was shot dead while he was covering the arson in Muzaffarnagar town. Muzaffarnagar riots are not an isolated incident. As many as 22 districts across the state have been put under curfew at various times in the past one year.