Priyanka meets kin of Sonbhadra victims as blame game continues

The standoff between Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Uttar Pradesh government ended on Saturday, a day after she was detained by the Mirzapur district administration when she was on her way to Sonbhadra to meet the relatives of 10 people gunned down over a land dispute.

Priyanka headed back to Delhi after meeting relatives of the massacre victims from Umbha village who travelled to the Mirzapur guest house where she stayed overnight, refusing an offer from the local administration to furnish a personal bond and leave. “Those officials who tried to stop me from meeting the victims’ families are now saying that I was not arrested and that I am free to go. I want to tell them that I have met the families, and for now I am going but I will be back,” she said in Mirzapur.

Her reaction came after the district magistrate told her she had not been arrested and that except Sonbhadra, she was free to go wherever she wished.

“I will be back to meet the Umbha massacre victims’ kin in their village and fight for their rights. What they have been through is unimaginably, brutal and unjust. Every single Indian should stand with them in the name of humanity,” she said.

Union minister for tribal affairs Arjun Munda expressed confidence that the state government would carry out an “unbiased investigation” into the firing and urged political parties to not politicise the incident.

Leaders from the Congress and other opposition parties came out in support of Priyanka. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the UP government of being “dictatorially inclined” and said Priyanka’s “imprisonment” was an attempt to trample on democracy.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati tweeted, “The UP government is banking on section 144 to hide its shortcomings pertaining to protection of life and property, and is not allowing anyone to visit Sonbhadra… Government’s laxity was the main reason for this massacre.”

A Trinamool Congress delegation headed to Sonbhadra was detained at the airport here on Saturday, party MP Derek O’Brien said.

Priyanka said the victims’ kin had five demands — possession of the land that they cultivated for decades; trial in the firing case in a fast-track court; withdrawal of cases against the Umbha villagers; full security to the locals of Umbha; and ~25 lakh compensation to the kin of each of those killed in the firing.

She said it was the responsibility of the government to provide security to the people, not to oppress them. “But this government is running away from its responsibilities and silencing the voice of the victims’ kin.”

“Not even a single BJP MLA, MP or chief minister Yogi Adityanath has visited the victims’ families. I am here to express my solidarity with the people of Umbha village. We will become the voice of the people because the Yogi government is trying to silence them,” she said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath will meet families of the massacre victims on Sunday in Umbha village of Sonbhadra district, said chief development officer Ajay Kumar Dwivedi. He said Yogi will reach the village around 11.30 pm and, after meeting the victims’ kin, he would go to the district hospital and meet the injured.

First Published: Jul 21, 2019 01:20 IST