UP govt's attempt at rehabilitation of Muzaffarnagar riot victims 'woefully inadequate': Amnesty

Amnesty International India has said that the survivors of the 2013 communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh continue to wait for justice with "little hope" as the state government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been "woefully inadequate".

On the fifth anniversary of the riots, the body said Saturday that riot survivors, who were displaced from their homes, still lived in squalor in resettlement colonies and the seven women survivors of gang-rape, who were brave enough to file their complaints, were yet to receive justice.

"The Uttar Pradesh state government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. This apathy towards the survivors of one of the most deadly instances of communal violence in recent years is just not acceptable," said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty International India.

"The state has done very little to redress the injustice they have faced. The government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been woefully inadequate," said Basu.

Basu said seven courageous women from Muzaffarnagar and Shamli filed cases of gang-rape in the face of intimidation and continuing threats.

"However, five years later, justice remains elusive. They have received little assistance from authorities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods," Basu said.

There has not been even one conviction in any of the seven cases so far. In 2016, one of the survivors died during childbirth, the body said.

The statement quoted one of the survivors who spoke to Amnesty International India in August 2018 as saying, "I have now lost all faith. It has been five years since I last filed my complaint."
The statement quoted Rehana Adeeb, an activist working in Muzaffarnagar, as saying, "Victims have faced social pressure as well as political pressure. Justice has not worked in the way it should have. Their rapists are out in the open for years now. Women are scared now to pursue their cases and they cannot be blamed for this."