'Let CBI probe riots in Muzaffarnagar'

Khaps say fake cases filed against youths

Khap panchayats on Sunday warned the Uttar Pradesh government against what they alleged indiscriminate arrests of a section of the community by cops in connection with the last year’s communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and demanded a CBI investigation into the same.
Members of over hundred khaps held a mahapanchayat (meeting) at Fugana village in Muzaffarnagar to discuss their strategy to protest the alleged indiscriminate arrests of Jat youths on charges of inciting violence and involvement in the riots.

“We have no faith in the probe by the special investigation team (SIT). We demand a CBI probe. Only a CBI investigation can give us justice,” said Harikishan Malik, a prominent khap leader after the meeting.

Malik said the leaders will seek a meeting with the President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to apprise them about their decision. 

He alleged that the police had been arresting the Jat youths on trumped up charges.The leaders made it clear that they will not allow arrest of any youth of the community ‘come what may’ and would oppose their ‘persecution peacefully’.

“Cases have been registered against 7,000 people in different police stations in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts in connection with the riots. While a large number of cases are against unidentified people, as many as four thousand people had been named in the cases,” he added. 

The khap leader claimed that a majority of cases had been lodged by the alleged riot victims only to ‘claim compensation from the government'. “We have been telling the officials that the cases are false and asking them to investigate them thoroughly before taking any action but they have been effecting arrests,” he said.
“Our youths are scared. Their future is at stake. The farmers are also scared and are not even going to their fields,” Malik alleged. A few days ago, the villagers had fought a pitched battle with the cops, when they had gone to arrest a youth wanted in connection with a case of arson. Many people, including women, were injured in the clash.