After Mulayam Singh Yadav sparked controversy denying any death in Muzaffarnagar relief camps, UP Principal Secretary of Home has claimed that nobody can die of cold.
Like King, like King’s men – this holds true in Uttar Pradesh. First Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh, whose son Akhilesh Yadav is the Chief Minister of the state, sparked of controversy by denying any death by cold in Muzaffarnagar riot victim relief camps, now it is the Principal Secretary for Home Anil Gupta who thinks that “nobody can die of cold”.
“Children have died of pneumonia, not of cold. Nobody can die of cold. If people died of cold, nobody would have been alive in Siberia,” Gupta said while commenting on relief camp deaths.
The statement came barely a day after Mulayam has set off a controversy by saying that there are no riot victims in the relief camps but those taking shelter are BJP and Congress supporters who have conspired to malign the Uttar Pradesh government.
Mulayam had said, “Those in the camps are not victims. These are conspirators along with BJP and Congress. Rahul wants to keep the issue alive for elections.”
Later on, the UP government accepted 34 deaths in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli relief camps via a report delivered by a high level committee constituted to look into the matter. The UP report even trashes Mulayam’s conspiracy theory. The committee confirmed the people living in the relief camps were genuinely displaced persons. It also confirmed that the total number of people who died is 34, which includes 12-year-old children also.
The UP government, however, defended the Principal Secretary by saying that the statement has been misinterpreted. “This is misinterpretation of statements. Government has taken all the measures required,” said Madhukar Jaitley, advisor to Akhilesh.
Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi called the remark insensitive and said, “It’s a very insensitive statement and it clearly speaks out of a callous attitude of the state government. The government should provide better facilities and care, instead of accusing them of being conspirators.”
BJP slammed the UP bureaucrat’s remark. Condemning the remark, the BJP said in a statement, “Officials should not make insensitive comments.” The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) too criticised the bureaucrat’s remark. In a statement, the BSP said, “If UP govt head makes insensitive statement, officials will follow.” Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah hit out at Gupta on social networking site, Twitter.
“Can’t die of the cold”!!!! Send him out in a few less clothes & let’s see if he isn’t singing a different tune pretty damn quick.
— Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) December 27, 2013
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the UP Chief Secretary and the District Magistrates of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli on the issue.
Till the latest news, Akhilesh pulled up Gupta early in the noon for his insensitive remark and said, “People should have control on what they speak. Political leaders should be careful while speaking in the media.”
