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February 16, 2017

India: Journalist Rana Ayyub travels thru Muzaffarnagar district meeting riot victimes and pondering over the UP assembly elections 2017

ndtv.com - February 16, 2017

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I am writing this column days after the most polarized districts of Western UP like Muzaffarnagar and Shamli have cast their vote because the purpose of this column was not to influence the voter but to put on display the shameful apathy of our so-called secular leaders.
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As I travelled through Baghra, Budhana and Jansath tehsils in Muzaffarnagar, where Muslims form roughly 45 percent of the population, I met people who were scared at the prospect of the election. They feared that with BJP leaders including party president Amit Shah bringing  up the Ayodhya issue and the alleged Hindu exodus from Kairana, there could be a return of communal tension in the state. They feared for their women and children, but had nowhere to go.

More appalling was the fact that the very people who were most affected during the Muzaffarnagar riots, who had lost their property, were willing to give Akhilesh Yadav another chance as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
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FULL TEXT AT: http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/akhilesh-yadav-rahul-gandhis-claim-of-secularism-exposed-1658995