Two yardsticks for two massacres: Govt U-turn on compensation vow
The decision comes four days after the government released Rs 2.24 crore for the families of 42 Hashimpura victims who were allegedly killed by state PAC officials in 1987.
3 min read
The government held that in the case of 73 victims of Maliana “there was no police atrocity”.
After Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav declared on May 20 that compensation will be paid to victims of Maliana massacre in Meerut, the state government on Wednesday decided the “victims cannot be treated at par with Hashimpura massacre victims” and called off its plans to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation.
The decision comes four days after the government released Rs 2.24 crore for the families of 42 Hashimpura victims who were allegedly killed by state PAC officials in 1987.
[related-post]
The government held that in the case of 73 victims of Maliana “there was no police atrocity”.
“In Hashimpura there was police atrocity while in Maliana incident there was no such atrocity,” Akhilesh’s Chief Secretary, Alok Ranjan told The Indian Express.
On May 20, following assurance from Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to a delegation of people fromMaliana, Akhilesh had announced to give financial aid of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of 115 victims of Hashimpura and Maliana massacre. The government’s Information and Public Relations Department had also issued a press statement in this regard.
But the chief secretary confirmed on Wednesday that “there are no such plans to provide financial assistance to Maliana victims”.
When reminded about the CM’s announcement, he said: “Maliana incident was part of the riots that took place. We cannot cover them with compensation at par with Hashimpura victims.”
Sources informed that officials had apprised the CM that “giving compensation to Maliana victims will make other riot victims demand for compensation”.
Samajwadi Party MLC Ashu Malik, who had led the delegation of people that met Mulayam on May 20, said: “Some officials are misleading the government. Announcement was done after victims met Netaji (Mulayam) and the CM. I will raise the matter once again with our leaders.”
On May 23, 1987, a mob killed and burnt 73 Muslims in Meerut’s Maliana village, a day after the riots in Hashimpura which the Akhilesh government treats as an incident of police atrocity for the alleged involvement of 19 PAC personnel. All 16 accused — three had died during the trial — were acquitted by the trial court in March this year in a judgment that came 28 years after the incident.
You May Like
Photos
