File photo: Security forces stand guard at violence-hit Muzaffarnagar villages
Facing flak from the state high court and the Supreme Court on its role after the Muzaffarnagar riots, the belaguered Akhilesh Yadav government drew a fresh attack from the BJP on Friday for its "one-sided rehabilitation concerns and minority appeasement policies".
The state spokesman of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that it were "petty, narrow and votebank politics that has resulted in more than 50 riots in the state in 18 months of SP rule".
He said the Supreme Court's observation should serve as a wake-up call for the state government and it should start behaving as the government-of-all, rather than focussing on a particular religion and community.
"We have always been saying that votebank politics of the SP government is widening the gap between communities, but the party has blindly pursued the agenda, much to the disdain of the people of the state," he added.
The BJP also referred to the fine of Rs.5 lakh imposed on the state government by the Allahabad High Court for delay in responding to its queries on cancellation of 1,700 arm licenses of members of a specific community in Muzaffarnagar after the riots.
The fine was slapped by Justice Tarun Agarwal who directed that it be deposited within three days.
Sources said the state government was considering withdrawal of the decision to impound licenses in the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar.
BJP said that this also reflected that the state government was acting in a partisan manner. "It is for this reason that normalcy is yet to return in Muzaffarnagar and near by areas even after two months," the BJP spokesman added.
The SC had Thursday directed the state government to withdraw its earlier notification in which it had sanctioned Rs.90 crore for the 1,800 Muslim families for rehabilitation. They had refused to return to their homes.