Farmers’ meet has refreshed memories of riot-ridden rule under Congress, SP: Mayawati

BSP chief praises efforts of farmer outfits to maintain communal harmony

The massive show of strength by farmers in Muzaffarnagar on September 5 refreshed memories of the riot-ridden rule of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, said Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, referring to the deadly communal violence that shook the western Uttar Pradesh district eight years ago. While the Congress-led UPA was ruling at the Centre, Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar and nearby districts, polarising communities along religious lines and causing displacement of thousands of residents, mostly Muslims. Ms. Mayawati, however, said the slogans of “Hindu-Muslim brotherhood” for “communal harmony” raised from the platform of the gathering — a reference to chants of Allah-hu-Akbar and Har Har Mahadev raised by Rakesh Tikait — had shown that the “political fields sown with hate” by the BJP had started to slip away.