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Journalism of Courage
Expressing its displeasure,the Supreme Court Thursday ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to withdraw a notification that talked about financial aid for relocation and rehabilitation only to Muslim families affected by Muzaffarnagar communal riots.
Is it correct that your notification mentions only one community? May be it is because of this attitude that Jat Mahasabha filed a petition and we were compelled to issue notices, said a Bench led by Chief Justice P Sathasivam. We feel that you need to issue a revised notification. You better withdraw this notification and issue a fresh one. Dont talk about only one community. Give it to all the persons eligible.
The issue was brought to the notice of the court by advocate M L Sharma,who claimed that state government was biased for one community and that the October 26-notification manifested it unequivocally.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan,appearing for the state,promptly did the damage-control by conceding that the impugned clause was disturbing and that such a notification was bound to cause alarm.
It should not have gone into the notification the way it has gone. Let me make a statement at bar that no persons,including Hindus,will be denied aid for relocation and rehabilitation. We will recall it and issue a fresh one, he submitted.
The Bench then recorded the state governments undertaking that it will recall the October 26 notification and said that in the fresh notification it would be clearly mentioned that the concerned authority will take care of each and every affected person and relief and rehabilitation measures would be applied universally.
The court,which is hearing a bunch of PILs in the matter,was told about the controversial order issued by UP Secretary D S Sharma.
The government fiat discussed about the rehabilitation of such Muslims families of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts,who were displaced following the riots in September,and were living in relief camps and were not ready to return to villages. The Governor had sanctioned Rs 90 crore for the rehabilitation of such families. The government decided to disburse financial relief of Rs 5 lakh to those Muslim families who were terrified and apprehensive to return to their villages.
Senior advocate Pinky Anand,appearing for one of the petitioners,submitted that UP police had forcefully obtained a hand-written affidavit from Ravinder Kumar,father of victim boys,apprehending that it could be used against him in future. She demanded compensation for tractors and sugar cane fields damaged during the riots. The court asked state to respond to her charges and fixed the matter for hearing on December 13.
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