Bhatta-Parsaul: did Rahul mislead PM?

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi seems to have misled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the nation on alleged rape and killings at Bhatta-Parsaul. A CNN-IBN report finds that several of Rahul's claims are not backed by evidence. Rahul misquoted: Congress But the Congress stands by Rahul with the party maintaining that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati should order a judicial inquiry into the Bhatta-Parsaul violence. "What happened in Bhatta-Parsaul was wrong. Rahul Gandhi said that he saw a place where 70 ft of ashes were lying. It is wrong to distort what is said. I deny what is being reported in media quoting Rahul Gandhi. His question is that women and children have been beaten up and harassed is to be taken up. If bones have been seen in the ashes there, it has to be investigated in detail," said Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi. Did Rahul mislead PM? A day after Rahul Gandhi accused the Mayawati govt of state oppression, CNN-IBN went to Bhatta-Parsaul for a reality check. CNN-IBN reporter asked around for the 8 villagers who were part of the delegation that Rahul took to meet the Prime Minister but no one knew where they were. As the CNN-IBN team walked around looking for them, street after street was empty, the fear palpable in the air. "The men have all fled, fearing the police. We don't even know where they are right now," said a villager, Kamlesh. On finding Vimlesh, a feisty farmer and one of the four women from Bhatta-Parsaul who went to meet the prime minister, we asked her directly if what Rahul claimed about mass graves and rapes in her village was true. "Rahul Gandhi said he saw dead bodies in Bhatta, but we haven't seen any. Women have been ill treated in Bhatta but not here," said Vimlesh. On asking her about the deaths she said that no one knows the truth. "We will know only after our men come back," she said. Many of the men and boys who fled the village after clashes with the police on May 7 are slowly returning home. Some are still out. No one knows if they are hurt or absconding. That's perhaps why no one is mourning the over 70 dead that Rahul claims were killed in the twin villages. Looking for the other members of the delegation, CNN-IBN reporter only found women or the old and infirm left behind in the village. "All men have fled the village fearing arrest," said Lekh Raj Singh. Interestingly, the farmer delegation didn’t return to tell the villagers what happened at 7 RCR. Infact, the Bhatta-Parsaul panchayat wasn’t even involved in electing these representatives to go and meet the prime minister. "Two men came and told us to come with them. I was afraid at first but later agreed," said Birenderi, who was part of the delegation. Birenderi and her daughter Khushboo went to Delhi with Rahul Gandhi. They say they informed the prime minister about the police excess. But even they denied any information of rapes or mass murders in Bhatta-Parsaul. But they heard Rahul Gandhi say so. And they believe him. Ironically, Neha who lives in Bhatta too says the Congress crown prince didn’t even get to meet the families. "Rahul Gandhi was not even allowed to come here. We have no men around. We feel so scared," said Neha. Neha's arm got fractured when she tried to save her mother from the police. The ash mounds have literally become the bone of contention between Rahul Gandhi and the Mayawati government. Rahul claims that the UP police fired and killed over 70 villagers, physically assaulted women and burnt their properties. There are obvious signs of police excess everywhere - burnt vehicles, destroyed shops, violent attacks on villagers who had nothing to do with the agitation. But no one has seen the police burn their men in mass graves or rape their women. In Bhatta, heresay reigns supreme. Everyone has their theory about the ash mounds. While some farmers explain that mound of ash cannot be that of cattle or cowdung, the police say it could be plastic. But how come a community that took to arms to fight for their land rights is silent on the injustice being done to their men and women? One village, two realities – it is only after a thorough enquiry that the nation will know if there are innocent farmers buried under or the truth.