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Delhi CM Kejriwal Stopped From Entering Fractious Dadri Village

Delhi CM Kejriwal Stopped From Entering Fractious Dadri Village
NEW DELHI, INDIA - JULY 18: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia meeting with the family of the girl who was stabbed to death in Anand Parbat locality on July 18, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Nineteen-year-old Meenakshi died after being stabbed 35 times by two brothers who had been stalking her for several years and against whom she had filed a police complaint two years ago. Kejriwal has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family and ordered a magisterial probe into the case. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
NEW DELHI, INDIA - JULY 18: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia meeting with the family of the girl who was stabbed to death in Anand Parbat locality on July 18, 2015 in New Delhi, India. Nineteen-year-old Meenakshi died after being stabbed 35 times by two brothers who had been stalking her for several years and against whom she had filed a police complaint two years ago. Kejriwal has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the family and ordered a magisterial probe into the case. (Photo by Arun Sharma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal claimed to be waylaid by Uttar Pradesh's police and administration and prevented from entering

Bisada village in Dadri when he and his AAP colleagues went to visit Mohammad Ikhlaq's family on Saturday. Ikhlaq was lynched by a mob on Monday night after rumours that he had consumed beef.

However the Times of India reports that he managed to meet Ikhlaq's family members at a guesthouse outside the village.

We r stopped by police n admn. Mahesh Sharma n Owaisi not stopped yest. Then y me? I am most peace loving. Want 2 jst meet Ikhlak's family

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 3, 2015

AAP officials though were escorted to a guest house where party leader Ashutosh expressed his grief over the unfortunate incident. "We think even the PM should come here and spread a message so that something like this never happens in again," he told the Press Trust of India.

The Uttar Pradesh police however said that the CM and his entourage were denied entry because there was a threat to the minister's safety. “For the sake of Delhi CM’s protection, we escorted him to a guest house,” said Dadri superintendent of police (rural) Sanjay Singh told the Hindustan Times. A mob of women, reportedly attacked a group of media persons reporting the incident.

On Monday night, 50-year-old Ikhlaq was allegedly dragged from his home and lynched after rumours that he had consumed and stored beef meet. As many as ten people have been named as accused in the FIR.

With the AAP's involvement, the Dadri incident is rapidly becoming a political conflict. The BJP has sought to deny any element of communal disharmony and has been trying to label it as an 'accident' whereas AIMIM leader, Owaisuddin Sidiqqui, who visited the village, said that Iqhlaq was killed, not because of beef, but for being a Muslim.

“I m being accused of doing politics. Yes, i am doing politics.But i m doing politics of unity and love," Kejriwal tweeted, "They r doing politics of hatred. We firmly beileve that Hindus n Muslims have to stay united n not become vote banks. They want to divide people."

The Samajwadi Party, too, holds that the Dadri incident was one of explicit communal provocation. "Communal forces - BJP, RSS and Shiv Sena - are trying to vitiate communal atmosphere of the state. They have orchestrated such incidents in the past and are trying to do it again. We are alert, but they are doing communal politics and have succeeded in their designs sometimes," senior UP minister Shivpal Yadav told reporters on Friday.

Most conspicuously, PM Narendra Modi has yet to make a statement either which way on the uproarious incident that has, according to political analysts, fomented insecurity among religious minorities and dispelled any hope that the BJP is committed to creating a more secular society.

Contingents of Provincial Armed Constabulary and state police have been deployed across the village where prohibitory orders banning assembly of five or more people continued to be in force.

District Magistrate M P Singh had claimed that the situation was under control and reasoned that the incident should be treated as a "solitary case" and not a communal clash as no other Muslim family was affected.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.