Members of Anhad, JSSF, JTSA during their protest against forcible eviction of riot victims from the Muzaffarnagar relief camps, in New Delhi on January 02, 2014.
Rights groups in Delhi on Thursday held a protest against the Uttar Pradesh government's forcible eviction of victims of the Muzaffaranagar riots from relief camps where they had sought shelter.
"The Uttar Pradesh government has crossed all limits of callous governance and cynical political calculation by ordering the eviction of riot-hit people from the relief camps," Manisha Sethi of Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association (JTSA) told IANS.
The Akhilesh Yadav government has been frugal in its aid to the victims, Ms Sethi said, adding: "It is ridiculous how they are dismantling the flimsy tents which were at least providing the people with a mode of shelter against the bitter cold."
The protest was held outside UP Bhavan in the national capital.
"Eyewitnesses in Loi, Neem Kheri, and Bhora camps have reported heavy deployment of police force and forcible closure of these camps by bulldozing the tents, hearths and beating up the residents," said Bhavna Sharma of Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD).
"The UP government is now peddling the lie that people are either moving out voluntarily or are being relocated to another camp," added Ms Sharma.
The group also submitted a memorandum to the Uttar Pradesh Governor Banwari Lal Joshi asking him to intervene and stop the demolition of the relief camps.