Kairana had become a hot bed for various crimes directed towards Hindus by elements from the ‘special community’ which was in majority in the area. This issue was first raised by Late BJP MP Hukum Singh in the national media from where it became a hot topic during the elections. The allegations of crimes against Hindu community members and the subsequent exodus had been proven by a National Human Rights Council (NHRC) report published in 2016. According to the report, at least 250 Hindu families had migrated from Kairana due to hooliganism and extortion threats. Village Jahanpura in Kairana had 60 Hindu families but after the exodus, the Hindu population was reduced to zero. Many Hindu families had abandoned village Panjeeth in Kairana. At a press conference, Late Hukum Singh had also claimed back then that there have been at least 10 communal killings in the town. He had compared the Hindu exodus from Kairana to that of Kashmiri Pundit’s exodus from the Valley.
Hukum Singh had strived very hard to draw the attention of the then Samajwaadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav to tackle the issue. Akhilesh Yadav failed the Hindu community by not stopping the vile behavior of the majority community in Kairana. The mass exodus of Hindus from the Kairana region had led to uproars in the nation. With the BJP winning the 2017 state elections and CM Yogi Adityanath government coming to power in Kairana, the situation had drastically improved. Families of Hindus had started coming back to the area and had taken possession of their homes. Death of BJP MP Hukum Singh earlier this year had caused problems for the BJP and its subsequent loss in the by-polls has further deepened the crisis.
Hindu families are yet again facing directed and planned attacks after the win of RLD’s Tabassum Hassan in the Kairana by-polls. According to an OpIndia article, a woman from Kertu village in Kairana has left her home and went to her relative’s house after putting up ‘this house is for rent’ on her house. The woman alleges that her family members have been repeatedly beaten by members of the ‘other community’. The ‘other community’ members form approximately 85% of Kairana’s population today while Hindus are reduced to just 15%. This is surprising considering that the figure was 52% Hindus in 2001.
Some Hindi dailies too have covered this issue but the national leftist media houses are likely to shy away from reporting this event considering the party at fault is in minority at the national level. CM Yogi must take swift action and ensure that the Hindu families and residents of Kairana do not face problems just because they are in minority there. Proper action against the miscreants from Kairana must be taken and that too at a swift pace. Kairana and UP in general should not be left to become sources for crimes with religious undertones. That is the need of the hour and CM Yogi and the BJP government in power should carry out the necessary duties with this objective in mind.