Muzaffarnagar riots: Rahman Khan meets PM, calls for steps to ensure safety of people

Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh here last evening and expressed serious concern about the recent communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and nearby areas of Uttar Pradesh.

An official press release said Khan discussed in detail the state of law and order and the plight of the minority community, many of whom have left their homes for safer places.

He told Dr Singh that this was a dangerous situation and could lead to a communal divide.

Khan also requested the Prime Minister to draw the urgent attention of the Uttar Pradesh government to the situation and urge it to take immediate steps to ensure complete safety to the people.

According to the release, Dr Singh assured him to take all possible steps to provide full protection to the life and property of the innocent people.

Curfew was on Tuesday relaxed for two hours in three areas of trouble-hit Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh even as the death toll in the clashes in the district and adjoining towns climbed to 38.

With no reports of any fresh violence, curfew was eased for two hours from 3.30 pm in Kotwali, Civil Lines and Nai Nandi areas, District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said on Tuesday.

The district administration had clamped curfew on Saturday following incidents of communal violence.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh government had constituted a one-member judicial commission to probe Muzaffarnagar violence.

The commission, which would mainly look into administrative lapses, if any, in controlling the violence, would submit its report to the government within two months.

"A one-member judicial inquiry commission of Justice Vishnu Sahai has been constituted by the government to probe the Muzaffarnagar violence starting from Kawal incident on August 27 till September 9," State Home Secretary Kamal Saxena said.

Violence broke out in the Kawal area of Muzaffarnagar on Saturday when members of a community returning from a panchayat meeting in Naglabadhod, three kilometres from Kawal, clashed with members of another community.