Land stir: UP govt. rubbishes Rahul’s claims

The Uttar Pradesh government strongly denied allegations made by Congress party general secretary Rahul Gandhi of atrocities on farmers protesting its land acquisition polices in the western parts of the state.

?All allegations, especially on rape, are absolutely baseless. Even the forensics report has clarified that there were no human remains or bones,? Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Secretary Shashank Shekhar said at a news conference, asserting only four people had died in the clashes.

After backing the farmers protests and spending a day in the Bhatta-Parsaul village, the epicentre of the unrest, Gandhi had slammed the UP government for atrocities against the farmers and even met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

After the meeting on Monday with Singh and a delegation of villagers from near the Greater Noida area, Gandhi accused the Mayawati government of resorting to murder and rape to acquire land. He reportedly said he had photos of bones in the ashes.

However on Wednesday, cornered over his seemingly unsubstantiated allegations of murder and rape the villages for alleged land grab by the Mayawati government, the Congress said that Rahul Gandhi was misquoted by the media.

Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi requested the media to not report the charges specifically but instead focus on “assault and plunder”.

“We deny these media reports,” Dwivedi said. ?I don’t want to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s statement.?

The Congress spokesperson said the reports are results of ?hypocritical behaviour?.

“Rahul said there was a 70-foot diameter mound of ashes. The diameter increased to 74 foot and ashes became bodies. This is serious. We deny 100 percent of all that has been printed and broadcast,? he said.

Dwivedi defended Rahul?s statement of people being killed in Greater Noida villages and said he spoke on the basis of what people told him.

“Rahul said what people reported to him. If the reports are incorrect, then it?s okay; else the matter is really serious,? Dwivedi said.

Meanwhile, Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said the atrocities on the farmers in Greater Noida made her feel ashamed as she took on the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh over land acquisition.

Speaking here on the concluding day of the two-day convention of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC ) here, Sonia Gandhi said: “What has happened to the farmers in the Gautam Buddh Nagar has put us in shame.”

She took forward the agitation by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi further and said Congress will fight for the cause of farmers. She said the state of Uttar Pradesh has plunged into lawlessness and anarchy.

She added the Congress will place before Parliament quickly the land acquisition bill.

Four people were killed in clashes that broke out in parts of western Uttar Pradesh between farmers demanding better compensation for their land and state law enforcement.

The unrest over land acquisition quickly took a political colour as opponents of Mayawati?s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rallied to protest the alleged land grab where farmers in remote villages were reportedly paid one fourth the market price for their property.