Farmers killed, women raped in UP villages: Rahul; BSP denies

New Delhi/Lucknow, May 16 (PTI) Upping the ante on the
issue of land acquisition in north Indian state Uttar Pradesh
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Monday met Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in the Indian capital and complained to him
about alleged "rape" of women" and "murder" of farmers in
Mayawati-ruled state but BSP denied the charges.
Congress demanded a judicial inquiry saying "grave
allegations have been made but Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
dismissed the charges as "baseless".
Gandhi, who led an eight-member delegation to Singh,
alleged later that huge heaps of ash carrying burnt bodies
have been found in the villages where farmers were agitating
for better compensation for their land acquired by Mayawati
government.
Gandhi also showed the Prime Minister pictures
purportedly of bodies burnt and other forms of violence
against farmers and their family members.
"The issue here is a more fundamental one with regard
to these villages in particular and a large number of villages
in UP all down the Agra highway, where state repression is
being used, where people are being murdered.
"Quite severe atrocities taking place there....There
is a set of large 74 heaps of ash there with dead bodies
inside. Everybody in the village knows it. We can give you
pictures. Women have been raped, people have been thrashed.
Houses have been destroyed," Gandhi told reporters.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) general
secretary said he was "very concerned" about what was going on
in the villages there and facilitated the meeting of farmers
with the Prime Minister so that they can put forward their
views and the PM listened to it.
It was a delegation of eight persons.
To a question why the Centre is yet to amend the Land
Acquisition Act even as he had met the Prime Minister even
last year with the same demand, Gandhi said it was taking
time as the legislation was a complex one.
"We are committed to it and realize that it is a
complex piece of legislation. And that is why it is taking
some time", Gandhi said adding the issue was a larger one.
"What I am concerned about how we are treating our
people. Most of the people (farmers) said that they are more
than happy to give their land for development. They said if a
road is being built, they have no problem.
"Most poor people want development in the country and
they are ready for the sacrifice. The question is how we treat
those poor people. Do we treat them fairly or do we brutalize
them? And that is why I brought these people to the PM because
after all they are Indian people and we have to look after
their interests as well," Gandhi said.
BSP dubbed Rahul's meeting the Prime Minister Minsiter
with the farmers of Bhatta Parsaul near Greater Noida as
another instance of Congress' "indulging in petty politics"
and dismissed as "baseless" the allegation that a large number
of lives were lost and women raped in Bhatta Parasul near
Greater Noida.

BSP asked Congress to stop indulging in "petty
politics of spreading rumours".
Terming as baseless the allegations of Congress that a
large number of lives were lost in Bhatta Parsaul and women
raped, a BSP spokesman alleged in Lucknow that Congress has
been playing such political drama in Uttar Pradesh to regain
its lost ground and Rahul Gandhi's meeting the PM was "another
such attempt".
Congress, on the other hand, demanded a judicial probe
into the charges of rape of women and murder of farmers.
"What we are asking for is a judicial inquiry...if
there are grave allegations made, if there are charges where
photographs have been produced, I don't understand what
problem the UP government can possibly face in ordering a
judicial inquiry", Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan
said.
However, BSP leader Syed Kazim Ali Khan "it is yet to
be determined if the photographs are genuine. What is the
authenticity of the photographs, who these people are. Are
they actually from the village? Are they from the state? Did
they disappear? Were they murdered or did they die of natural
causes? All this has to be determined".