By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Demolition of houses of any particular community by the states in India, especially after communal violences, has long been used as a political tool by the ruling establishments to supress the religious minorities, political dissenters, and the poor, and to appease the particular bigger vote bank. The demolition drives are justified on the pretext of maintaining the law and order, though it is a gross violation of the fundamental right to shelter, a basic human right.
The latest example is from Haryana, where the BJP led State Government went on demolishing the houses of people from the Muslim religious minorities merely because some riot occurred in Gurugram and Nuh. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has taken Suo motto cognisance of the incident and stayed the drive while making critical observations against the government. The demolitions were being carried out “apparently, without any demolition orders and notices, the law and order problem is being used as a ruse to bring down buildings without following the procedures established by law,” the court observed.
The division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court comprising Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeevan has also made a more serious observation, “The issue also arises whether the buildings belonging to a particular community are being brought down under the guise of law and order problem and an exercise of ethnic cleansing is being conducted by the State.”
Three United Nations Special Rapporteurs have written a joint letter to the Indian government on June 9, 2023, questioning the recent use of bulldozers by the authorities across India to demolish the houses of Muslims who were allegedly involved in inter-communal clashes with Hindus in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, Anand in Gujarat, and Jehangirpuri in Delhi during and after religious processions in April and May 2022.
The UN Special Rapporteurs have criticised and protests the demolitions as a form of collective punishment that violates the right to housing, the right to freedom of religion or belief and right to non-discrimination of minorities. Incidentally, among the states mentioned in the letter – Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – are ruled by the BJP, while the law and order is in the hand of the BJP led Centre in Delhi.
In February 2023, homes and businesses of Muslim community in Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir were reported demolished by the State administration presently ruled by the Centre led BJP government. The Amnesty International has condemned this and urged the government of India that no one should be made homeless or vulnerable to other human rights violations because of eviction. The organisation claimed that the demolitions appear to be the brutal human rights violations the region has historically witnessed, and that they could be seen as a form of collective punishment against the Muslim minority community.
Demolition drive carried out by the BJP led government in Utter Pradesh under CM Yogi Aditya Nath has been always controversial. Even Supreme court of India had taken cognisance of the demolition drive carried out by the state government in June 2022 and had asked to stop it, except with the procedure established by law. The state government had claimed that it was taking action against the rioters as per the law and that the demolitions are not related to any communal or religious motives.
In 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government demolished the homes of several Muslim families in Prayagraj after they were accused of protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The demolitions were widely condemned as a form of collective punishment and a violation of the rights of Muslims.
Other communities are also victim of demolition drives. In 2011, the Uttar Pradesh government demolished the homes of several Dalit families in Muzaffarnagar. The demolitions were seen as an attempt to intimidate and silence Dalit protests against caste discrimination.
The demolition of houses has also been used to target political dissenters. In 2021, the Madhya Pradesh government demolished the homes of several activists who were protesting against the government’s land acquisition policies. The demolitions were seen as an attempt to intimidate and silence dissent.
Other communities also suffered in the state due to such drives. For example, in 2019, the Madhya Pradesh government demolished the homes of several tribal families in Chhindwara. The demolitions were seen as an attempt to grab tribal land for development projects.
The demolition of houses has also been used to target the poor. In 2022, the Maharashtra government demolished the homes of several slum dwellers in Mumbai who were living on land that was earmarked for a Metro project. The demolitions left thousands of people homeless and displaced. In 2023, the Maharashtra’s NDA government demolished the homes of several people who were accused of being involved in the illegal sand mining trade. The demolitions were carried out in the name of cracking down on illegal activities.
In 2021, the Assam government demolished the homes of several Muslim families in Darrang district. The demolitions were carried out in the name of clearing illegal encroachments from government land. However, the families claimed that they had been living on the land for generations and that they had the necessary documentation to prove it. The demolitions were widely condemned as a form of religious persecution.
In 2022, the Tripura government demolished the homes of several political activists and journalists. The demolitions were carried out in the aftermath of communal violence in the state. The activists and journalists were accused of inciting the violence. However, they denied the allegations and said that the demolitions were a form of retaliation for their criticism of the government.
In 2023, the Mizoram government demolished the homes of several people who were accused of being involved in the smuggling of coal. The demolitions were carried out in the name of cracking down on illegal activities.
BJP ruled states seem to be increasingly adopting the culture of demolition of structures or houses owned by Muslims, in the pretext of law and order problem, which perhaps began in Gujarat in 2002, when the Gujarat government led by the then CM Narendra Modi had demolished the homes of Muslims in the aftermath of the Gujarat riots. The demolitions were seen and criticized as an attempt to punish Muslims and to prevent them from returning to their homes.
The latest Suo motto cognizance by the Punjab and Haryana High court has brought some relief, but the matter should not end here and must reach logical conclusion by restraining the state. Such a relief also must be brought across the country by the Supreme Court of India, if possible, by taking Suo Motto cognisance. (IPA Service)
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