Cong Remained Mute While Samajwadi Party Subjected Agitators To Cruel Atrocities: Dhami

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said the Samajwadi Party government was responsible for opening fire on people protesting for a separate Uttarakhand in undivided Uttar Pradesh at Rampur Tiraha, Khatima and Mussoorie in 1994.

Dhami also targeted the then Congress government at the Centre, accusing it of being a "mute spectator" during the firings. "On this day in 1994, the Samajwadi Party government of undivided Uttar Pradesh opened fire on people agitating peacefully for statehood at Rampur Tiraha and subjected them to the cruelest atrocities," Dhami said addressing a function at Shaheed Sthal, Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar to commemorate the martyrdom of statehood agitators.

Paying tributes to statehood agitators who were killed in the police firing, Dhami said that Uttarakhand became a state due to their sacrifice. "Rampur Tiraha firing has left a deep wound in the hearts of every Uttarakhandi that has not healed even 29 years after the incident," Dhami said.

It is alleged that at least seven agitators were killed in police firing and policemen raped agitating women at Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar on October 2, 1994. The activists were on their way to Delhi from Rishikesh to raise their demand for a separate state of Uttarakhand. Union minister Sanjeev Balyan, UP minister Kapil Aggarwal and several statehood agitators were also present at Shaheed Sthal.

Recalling the Khatima and Mussoorie firings, which also happened around a month before the Rampur Tiraha firing, Dhami said the Congress government at the Centre remained "just a mute spectator to these atrocities". He credited the BJP government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee for granting statehood to Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh on November 9, 2000.

The chief minister said both the Centre and the state government are working towards making Uttarakhand in accordance with the vision of those who fought for its statehood. Dhami highlighted steps taken by his government for the welfare of statehood agitators and their dependents, including bringing a legislation in the state assembly, granting 10 per cent horizontal reservation to them in all government services as well as increasing their pension.

The bill has been referred to a select committee of the state assembly after being tabled in the house during a session last month.