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Muslim MPs unhappy with PM's
response to Kanpur situation

Although Coal Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain sought to make it out that the prime minister was concerned about the Kanpur incidents and had said he would look into the demand that the Provincial Armed Constabulary be replaced, Bahujan Samaj Party MP Rashid Alvi told newsmen after the 30-minute meeting that Vajpayee was determined to believe the state government's view that the situation was under control.

''All MPs were trying to convince him but he does not want to listen,'' Alvi said.

The minister said the prime minister felt that the situation was now under control and the UP Government could handle it.

Hussain said Vajpayee felt that the Army could not be deployed everywhere and the report he had received conveyed that the situation was under control. The prime minister was concerned since it was a question of the government's credibility, he said.

Alvi, however, feared that there was great danger of attacks on minorities spreading to other parts of the state and even the rest of the country.

He alleged there was a definite game-plan by the government to start these riots to divert attention from the tehelka tapes expose.

The MPs, who included E Ahmed, Hannan Mollah and Mansoor Ali Khan, said they had urged the prime minister to order an independent probe and send an all-party delegation of MPs to Kanpur, but got no response from Vajpayee.

''He gave us no assurance or confidence despite our telling him that people are continuing to be killed by the PAC. It is now an issue between the PAC and Muslims. The prime minister is only going by reports he is getting from the chief minister''.

Ahmed said the PAC was the root cause of the problem. He (the prime minister) thinks overnight the PAC has become secular. They were harassing minorites and the women and only Muslim areas had been brought under curfew, he complained.

''Whether Ram rules or Ravana rules, the situation is the same for minorities,'' he said.

Ahmed said at least the prime minister must react now that a delegation of MPs met him and apprised him of the 'real situation' in Kanpur. Unless the Army is deployed the situation will not be brought under control, he added.

Earlier, Muslim Members of Parliament belonging to the Indian Union Muslim League, the Samajwadi Party, Left parties, Rashtriya Janata Dal and National Conference staged a sit-in protest at Parliament House, demanding withdrawal of the PAC and armed forces deployed in riot-affected areas of Kanpur city in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, with the situation limping back to normal, day curfew was Wednesday lifted from Raipurwa and relaxed in some localities of Kanpur.

An official spokesman told UNI that curfew in Raipurwa had been lifted from 0700 hours to 1800 hours IST from Wednesday. However, night curfew would continue.

Curfew was relaxed from 0900 hours to 1200 hours in Beconganj, Colonelganj and Bazaria, while Anwarganj, Chamanganj, Moolganj, Sisamau and Kotwali were given relaxation from 1100 hours to 1600 hours IST.

UNI

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