Biswajeet Banerjee| The News Minute| August 26, 2014|Just ahead of the first anniversary of the Muzzafarnagar riots, the Narendra Modi government has accorded 'Z' security to BJP MLA Sangeet Som, an accused in the 2013 riots, after threat concerns surfaced.The decision was solely made by the Central government and the state government was not consulted over the issue, said a Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson. He added that the Allahabad High Court had already issued an order to provide Sangeet Som, an MLA in Muzaffarnagar, a status of ‘Y’ category security."Neither the state government had recommended Z category security for the legislator nor was the state government informed about such security by the Centre,:" he said.Offficial sources say that ‘Z’ category security has been provided by the Centre to Som following inputs from Intelligence Bureau (IB). The Z security status would mean that the BJP MLA would get protection from Central paramilitary forces.Political parties have opposed this move claiming that such an act by the government would be a direct threat to country's secular fabric.The BJP MLA was accused of instigating riots in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas by uploading a controversial video. He was also arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) but was later acquitted by the High Court.A statement from the Central Government justified its decision saying that it was made on the basis of merit and not due to any political reasons as the IB had intercepted calls from terrorist organizations planning to target Som.BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak supported the decision saying that it was taken on threat perception to the life of the party MLA. "The opposition parties are just trying to create confusion," he said adding that no court had punished Som so far in the riots and even High Court had withdrawn NSA invoked against him.Samajwadi Party spokesperson and state minister Rajendra Choudhury however said that such acts only proved the Centre’s patronage to a man who was accused in the riots.The Muzaffarnagar riots started after two cousins were lynched by a mob who killed a youth for allegedly harassing their sister in Kaval area on August 28. A total of 68 people were killed and over 50,000 rendered homeless in the riots.