Recently, reports have emerged that several Hindu families in Kairana, a small town in the Shamli district in Western Uttar Pradesh, have been forced to flee after targeted attacks over the last two years.

According to Kairana MP Hukum Singh (BJP), at least 346 Hindu families have migrated from Kairana due to goondaism and extortion threats.

Kairana MP Hukum Singh ibnlive

The MP said the number he mentioned includes only the families of Kairana, and if those who migrated from other parts of the district are included, the number would be more than a thousand.

The MP has also alleged that there have been at least 10 communal killings in the town, that has become a “new Kashmir”, in the past three years.

The police said it is investigating the matter.

Kairana is both an Assembly as well as Lok Sabha constituency, but the migration has been witnessed mainly in area that falls under the Assembly constituency.

Terming the allegations as “serious in nature”, The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has now sought a report within four weeks from the Akhilesh Yadav government.

The NHRC acted on a complaint that a Hindu woman was gang-raped and murdered in the town recently but police didn’t arrest the suspects because of political pressure.

The police have admitted to a few cases of extortion but said the bulk of the migration was because of a lack of jobs in the area.

So far, Samajwadi Party leaders have evaded the Kairana issue, but SP leader and the minority affairs minister Azam Khan said: “I have no idea about the migration of the Hindu community from Kairana in Shamli district.”

As per the 2011 Census, Kairana had 30 per cent Hindus and 68 per cent Muslims. However, it now stands at only 8 per cent Hindus and 92 per cent Muslims, as per the local administration.

According to locals, four businessmen had been murdered recently in the area, and the atmosphere there is not good.