The issue of children dying in Muzaffarnagar camps was raked up in Parliament last week.
The Supreme Court had on December 12 taken “serious” note of deaths of over 40 children in relief camps for riot-affected people in Muzaffarnagar and directed the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately take remedial measures to meet the threat of winter.
Following the court order, the Uttar Pradesh Government had set up a high-level committee to look into the issue.
An estimated 4,000 people are still living in the five relief camps in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli.
Over 60 people were killed in the Muzaffarnagar riots that broke out in August.
At the Bharnau relief camp, Rahul sat on the ground talking to children, who said they are unable to go to their schools and that their education is suffering due to the situation.
At the Barnali camp, a youth asked the Congress Vice President, “Are we are not Indians just because we are Muslims?” to which Gandhi said, “No, you are very much an Indian.”
As the interaction progressed with the victims and their representatives, AICC Minority Department Chairman, Khurshid Ahmed Saiyed, who hails from Gujarat, exhorted them to gather courage and go back to their homes telling them that the situation must not be worse than Gujarat which had witnessed riots in the past.
At Bharnau, the relief camp dwellers sat on the roads and sought more time from the Congress vice president to explain their problems.
On the way, Gandhi stopped briefly at many places to talk to the locals and asked what prevented them from returning to their villages and what specific steps could help them to go back to their homes.
Saiyed said they would have been able to do much more if the Congress was ruling UP, but the Central Government could not push through many things as the state is ruled by another party.
