Muzaffarnagar riots: PM promises strictest action

• UPA chief and PM call out for peace and harmony
• Singh, Sonia and Rahul visit a camp in Bassi Kalan
• They also visited villages of Bawali and Khanjpura

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, on Monday visited communal violence-hit areas of this district in Uttar Pradesh to share the pain of those affected and promised "strictest punishment" to the perpetrators.

Singh and Sonia Gandhi appealed to all sections of the society here to maintain peace and harmony. Assuring all help from the Centre to the state government to restore normalcy, the Prime Minister "priority and efforts" right now was to ensure that affected people are sent back home with a feeling of security.

Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi visited a camp in Bassi Kalan village, 30 kms from here, where Muslims affected by violence have taken shelter. They also visited Jat-dominated Bawali and Khanjpura villages, which too have witnessed riots.

Curfew lifted

Muzaffarnagar (PTI): Curfew was on Monday lifted from all parts of riot-hit Muzaffarnagar, 10 days after it was imposed, as the administration found the situation "conducive" for scaling down the high alert.

"The curfew has been removed from all areas of the district now. The situation is conducive and peaceful now. We also had VIP visits (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Prime Minister) and hence we took a decision in this regard. There will be no curfew from 7 pm today," District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma told reporters here. Night patrolling and intensified vigil will be on, he said.

UP ignored Centre’s warning: Minister

New Delhi (PTI): The Centre on Monday came down heavily on Uttar Pradesh government for its alleged failure to prevent riots in Muzaffarnagar and said people of the state have lost complete faith in the Samajwadi Party dispensation.

Minister of State for Home RPN Singh, who accompanied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to Muzaffarnagar, said the Akhilesh Yadav government did not act on Centre's warning about possible communal violence.

"The Central government had warned the UP government well in advance about the communal tension. The Home Minister (Sushilkumar Shinde) spoke to the Chief Minister. But they ignored the warning. The state government did not listen to the warning. They even did not stop the (Jat) Mahapanchayat despite warning. You know, law and order is a state subject," he told reporters.

UP briefs Supreme Court on riots

New Delhi: All efforts are being made to curtail the violence and provide relief to families affected by the Muzaffarnagar riots, the UP government told the Supreme Court on Monday. The Centre also told the bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam that 78 companies of Centre Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed in the riot-hit areas.

The response of the Centre and the state government was filed in compliance of apex court order directing them to file their replies on a PIL seeking a direction to them for carrying out relief and rehabilitation work in the affected districts.The Centre also informed the court that Rs two lakh assistance would be given to the families of deceased under Prime Minister Relief Scheme, in addition to Rs 10 lakh assistance announced by the state government. Giving details of the ground situation, the Centre in its response, said that as per the state government's reply, 44 people were killed and 97 injured in the violence-hit areas.

Ruckus in UP Assembly over communal riots

Lucknow (PTI): The monsoon session of the UP legislature got off to a stormy start on Monday with the opposition targeting the government in both the houses over Muzaffarnagar violence, disrupting proceedings and forcing adjournment for the day.

Slogan-shouting opposition members wearing caps and displaying placards trooped into the well of both the Houses and also jostled with marshals to reach to the podium. As soon as the Assembly met at 11 AM, members of opposition parties, including BSP, Congress, BJP and Rashtriya Lok Dal stormed into the well and slammed the government over the violence that has claimed 47 lives and displaced over 40,000 people.

While Congress members demanded resignation of the government, saying, "Politics on corpses" must be stopped, BJP legislators said "harassment" of panchayats and Hindus should be stopped. The session was then adjournedfor the day.