Shivpal Singh Yadav faces Shamli riot victims' wrath

LUCKNOW: Senior UP minister Shivpal Singh Yadav faced a hostile crowd of riot victims in Shamli when he visited the relief camps on Monday. People accused the minister of paying lip service and accused the government of mishandling situation. Communal violence in the district and adjoining areas left 48 persons dead and displaced over 50,000.
After landing at the makeshift helipad in Chandan Lal National Inter College in Kandhla, Yadav, who is uncle of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, left for Eidgah where he met the riot victims.Yadav assured people that government would take action against guilty and provide justice to the victims but was forced to cut short his visit as restless crowd assembled at the spot started sloganeering.
He left for Jogiya Kheda. However, on way he spoke to some Muslim clerics and assured them that government had taken the matter seriously and arrangements would be made for rehabilitation of riot victims. Later, he visited several other riot-hit villages and localities.
When media-persons asked him to comment on the alleged role of his ministerial colleague Mohammad Azam Khan in riots, Yadav said "Khan is a pious and clean man." However, he alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the sting operation conducted by a television channel which showed Khan allegedly asking cops to delay action which led to escalation of violence.
Sources said that earlier Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav was supposed to visit the riot-hit areas but cancelled it following reports of 'hostile environment'. Later, he decided to send his brother Shivapal Yadav along with a team of SP leaders from Jat, Muslims and Gujjar communities which constitute large part of the population in the west UP and are most affected by the riots.