1980 Moradabad riots report to be tabled in UP Assembly

LUCKNOW: The state Cabinet on Friday cleared a proposal to table an enquiry report on 1980 Moradabad riots in the UP Assembly.
A one-member commission of Allahabad High Court Judge MP Saxena was set up to investigate the reason behind the incident in which 83 people died and 112 were injured. The report was submitted to the government in November 1983.
Sources said various governments sat over the report, but the current dispensation led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has decided to table it before the Assembly. Details of the report are not known so far.
On August 13, 1980 during the VP Singh-led Congress government in the state, a pig reportedly entered the Eidgah in Moradabad during the Eid namaz. Around 70,000 people were reportedly attending the namaz at that moment.
83 people had died in police firing
As per various accounts, the Muslims present in the Eidgah asked the police to intervene, but it refused. In the ensuing police firing, 83 people had died and more than 100 were injured. Riots subsequently followed the incident. At that time, Congress-led by Indira Gandhi was in power in the Centre,” said a government official.
He added that even though the report was submitted to the government in 1983, no subsequent governments released its content. When the matter came before the current CM, he decided to have it tabled in the Assembly, he said.