A large number of members of the
minority community are uneasy about returning to their homes
in Asthan village in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh, from where
they had to flee 10 days ago following violent communal clashes over the rape
of a Dalit girl. Violence
had rocked the village, located nearly 150 km from Lucknow, after the
13-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped and murdered by four Muslim boys
from the same village.
In the
communal flare-up following the incident, houses and shops belonging to the
Muslim community were burnt down by an angry mob after local authorities failed
to initiate any action against the accused.
No effort
was made by district authorities to get a post-mortem done on the victim.
The
disturbance started when the victim's family and other villagers decided to
take the funeral procession through the Muslim locality.
Most
families, terrorised by the violence, have chosen to leave the village in
search of a safer haven. The administration has deployed armed personnel in the
village but this has failed to restore their confidence.
"We
would have returned by now, but it appears that visits by leaders of different
political parties have been responsible for raising the tension once again. We
are scared to go back to Asthan," a villager told Azam Ansari, a resident
of Pariyavan village, four km away from Asthan.
Ansari
told this scribe over the telephone, "I myself tried persuading some of
the Asthan people to return to home, but they are still terrified after what
they have gone through".
The issue
has also come up in the state assembly, where Parliamentary Affairs and Urban
Development Minister Azam Khan has drawn much flak over it. He chose to use
offence as the best form of defence by reminding Opposition Bahujan Samaj Party
of the incidents of rape and communal clashes that took place during Mayawati's
regime.
He
claimed, "Action had already been ordered by the state government and
nearly a dozen people have already been taken into custody."
He added,
"It was to send a positive message that we ordered the suspension of both
the district magistrate and superintendent of police; the new team is taking
effective steps to rebuild the confidence of the people."
Congress
leader Pramod Tiwari demanded a judicial probe into the incident. He also
demanded higher compensation for the victims, who were given an ex-gratia
payment of Rs 50,000 as their homes were razed during the violence.
No
mention was made about whether any compensation had been offered to the family
of the rape victim.
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