Aligarh: Uttar Pradesh BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai on Tuesday threatened to launch a fresh statewide agitation if justice is not meted out to the family of Gaurav, who was killed in last month’s communal clash in this city.
In his address at the conclusion of the week-long dharna organised by BJP here, Bajpai said Gaurav’s family should be given Rs 40 lakh as compensation, as was done in case of the victim of the Dadri lynching.
Accusing the Akhilesh government of adopting “double standards” in granting financial relief to victims of communal violence, the BJP leader said a few years ago, a deputy superintendent of police, belonging to the Muslim community, was killed in an encounter with criminals in Pratapgarh district and the state had provided relief to his family “much in excess of the normal amount given in such cases”.
In stark contrast, the family of Police Inspector Manoj Mishra, who had been killed in Lakhimpur district earlier this year in an encounter with cow smugglers, “has been given no relief whatsoever”, he claimed.
This reflected “communal bias” of the Samajwadi Party, he said, adding that law and order in the state had “totally broken down and this was primarily due to the fact that the government was more interested in shielding criminals and rapists”.
He said the fury faced by mediapersons in Agra last month was a reflection of the fact that the state government was furious with the media for exposing the real face of crime in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Gaurav’s family left today for Lucknow for a meeting tomorrow with the chief minister to push their demand for raising the amount of relief from the currently announced sum of Rs 10 lakh.
Samajwadi Party legislator Zafar Alam, who accompanied the family, said, “BJP should refrain from communalising this entire issue as this was not in the broader interest of the state.”
Twenty-three-year-old Gaurav was killed and six others were injured in a clash over bursting of firecrackers in Delhi Gate area of the city last month.
—PTI