By IANS,
New Delhi : Parties across the political spectrum, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Monday joined hands against the communal violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district, leading to the Lok Sabha being adjourned.
Speaker Meira Kumar initially allowed SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to raise the issue of the violence in Bareilly, parts of which have been under curfew since March 2. Mulayam Singh alleged that the district and state administrations in the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-ruled state were responsible for the violence and asked the central government to make a statement in the house.
“The state government is spending state resources to hold rallies. They are not interested in restoring peace in the city. Even children are suffering because of the violence and the curfew. The central government should make a statement on this urgent matter,” he said.
Congress MP Jagadambika Pal and Janata Dal-United’s Sharad Yadav agreed and reiterated that the Mayawati-led government had failed to curb the violence and asked the central government to make a statement.
The BJP also stepped in and asked the speaker to allow Aonla MP Maneka Gandhi to speak on the issue.
Maneka Gandhi, along with party colleagues Rajendra Aggarwal (Meerut MP) and Yogi Adityanath (Gorakhpur MP), were prevented from reaching Bareilly Sunday morning by the police.
The speaker did not adhere to BJP’s request, leading to a protest by the party’s MPs. At this, the speaker adjourned the house till 2 p.m.
A minor communal clash followed by sporadic arson March 2 afternoon led the administration to clamp curfew in several parts of Bareilly. The five areas hit by communal violence were Subhashnagar, Kotwali, Kila, Prem Nagar and Baradari.
Trouble sparked off over the passage of a Barawafat procession. What started with the exchange of hot words between members of rival communities almost instantly snowballed into a violent clash as members of a particular community went on an arson spree, burning down a few shops.
The Bareilly district administration has decided to relax curfew for four hours Monday in the five police station areas of the city.