Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the humanitarian situation in Uttar Pradesh.

Protests this month have erupted in parts of Uttar Pradesh (UP) over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Nupur Sharma and former Delhi BJP media head Naveen Kumar Jindal's remarks on Prophet Muhammed. The police have arrested several suspects in connection with stone-pelting and illegal gatherings during protests. Following the protests, UP authorities have demolished the houses of some of the alleged Muslim protestors in what is being termed ‘bulldozer politics’, using violation of planning law as the justification. The demolitions triggered condemnation from opposition leaders and sections of the media for targeting the minority Muslim community, though many in India have also welcomed such measures. PM Modi and senior members of his Government have yet to make any public comment on these events.