New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to recall a notification issued last month, which provided for a compensation of five lakh rupees to Muslim families affected by the Muzaffarnagar communal riots.
"It is better to withdraw this notification to include all who are eligible," the court observed today while pronouncing its order.
Over 60 people were killed and 40,000 were left homeless after they fled their villages as the rioting spread in September. Many refused to leave relief camps to go back home even after the situation was brought under control fearing more violence.
On October 28, the Akhilesh Yadav government in UP announced that it will help families who lost everything in the violence so they could settle in other places and start life afresh. For this they identified nearly 950 families in six villages in Muzaffarnagar and three in Shamli, from where mostly Muslim families fled homes where they had lived for generations.
The government's notification promised five lakh rupees to those families who would assure that after taking the compensation, they would leave the camp and not return to their homes. So far only 79 families had agreed to these terms and conditions.
District officials had admitted that the financial aid would benefit one community as all the people living in the relief camps by then were Muslims. Hindu families which had taken shelter at the camps had all returned by then, the officials had said.
The BJP had slammed the government's financial package. "Why is this dole only for Muslims? Were others not affected by the riots?" the BJP's spokesperson in the state had asked.
"It is better to withdraw this notification to include all who are eligible," the court observed today while pronouncing its order.
Over 60 people were killed and 40,000 were left homeless after they fled their villages as the rioting spread in September. Many refused to leave relief camps to go back home even after the situation was brought under control fearing more violence.
On October 28, the Akhilesh Yadav government in UP announced that it will help families who lost everything in the violence so they could settle in other places and start life afresh. For this they identified nearly 950 families in six villages in Muzaffarnagar and three in Shamli, from where mostly Muslim families fled homes where they had lived for generations.
The government's notification promised five lakh rupees to those families who would assure that after taking the compensation, they would leave the camp and not return to their homes. So far only 79 families had agreed to these terms and conditions.
District officials had admitted that the financial aid would benefit one community as all the people living in the relief camps by then were Muslims. Hindu families which had taken shelter at the camps had all returned by then, the officials had said.
The BJP had slammed the government's financial package. "Why is this dole only for Muslims? Were others not affected by the riots?" the BJP's spokesperson in the state had asked.
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