There is no report related to the "exodus" of 40 Hindu families from the Muslim-dominated Deoband region of Western Uttar Pradesh, the government told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, 18 July.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED
The controversy began with a statement made by BJP leader Suresh Rana in 2017, who was contesting in the upcoming Assembly Polls. In a video, he was heard saying that a curfew would be imposed in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad (parts of UP with a sizeable Muslim population), should he win the polls, DNA reports.
When Rana’s statement brought him backlash, the BJP justified his stand by saying that although they would take action against him, it is also true that during the Samajwadi Party’s reign, there was a lot of persecution on religious grounds, as a result of which many “hard-working” people from UP had left the state, Jagran reports.
Keeping with this stance, Yogi Adityanath had then raked up the issue of alleged exodus of members of a particular community from certain parts of Western UP, adding that if this kept happening, “Western Uttar Pradesh could soon become another Kashmir,” Jagran reports.
Allegations were further levelled by right-wing Hindu groups such as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and that had worked as a massive poll plank for the BJP ahead of the 2017 assembly elections in UP.
Acting on these allegations, Amit Shah had raised this issue during its national executive meeting in Allahabad and a team of BJP leaders had even gone to neighbouring Kairana to investigate the situation, reports The Hindu.
THE ARGUMENT
Deoband had been featured as a BJP spotlight on account of it being the home to the famous Islamic seminary Darul-Uloom.
Along with the “list” that the right-wing parties had reportedly filed – of 40 Hindu families who had “fled” from Deoband fearing religious persecution – they had also alleged that several Hindu religious spots in the town had been "encroached upon", The New Indian Express reports.
Vikas Tyagi, the then regional secretary of the VHP, had added: “Hindu families across western UP are living in constant fear. They are oppressed by criminals from another community. The state government has been giving political patronage to goons of a particular community. If this is not stopped, UP will become like Kashmir.”
WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW
On 18 July, the government, represented by Union Minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, replied to the written questions related to the incident that had allegedly taken place in Deoband and other areas, as well as steps taken by the government to check these kind of incidents.
Ahir said: “A report in this regard has been received from the government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the report, no matter related to exodus of Hindu families in Banhera Khas village of Deoband, Saharanpur, has been reported,” PTI reports.
(With inputs from PTI, DNA, Jagran, The Hindu and The New Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)