Mathura: Situated merely a few hundred metres away from the Krishna Janmasthan Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura is Nai Basti, a Muslim-dominated vicinity. And it now lies in ruins.
On August 9 and 14, locals say that the administration along with the police undertook large-scale demolitions, pushing at least 500 people to homelessness.
This demolition drive that destroyed 137 homes was orchestrated by the railway authorities, Mathura police and administration with an aim to clear alleged ‘encroachments’ near the temple complex and upgrade the 12 km railway track between Mathura and Vrindavan from metre gauge to broad gauge.
On August 16, the Supreme Court had temporarily halted this demolition drive, maintaining status quo for 10 days. However, on August 28, while disposing of the plea of those against the demolitions, the court directed the petitioner appearing for the victims to pursue relief through the civil court.
Najma Begum is combing her hair, looking at the rubble that the state has reduced her home of five to. Begum and her family have been living in the basti for five decades now. “Everything that my brother earned is now under the bricks that once were a home to us,” said Begum, rather helplessly.
“We understand that Muslims are being attacked by the government, this is the reality,” added Begum, whose brother is an e-rickshaw driver.
Seema, a 45-year-old transgender person whose makeshift home was torn down, is angry at the prime minister and the chief minister “I only earn through begging, I am a transgender person, I earn by wishing good upon others, but today I curse [Narendra] Modi,” they said. “Even birds feel bad when their nests are torn down, we are still humans, how would we feel?” They added, “It is this BJP, Modi, Yogi and Hema Malini who have brought Muslims to homelessness. It rained last week; our children were shivering under the plastic tents we live in today. May Allah grant us death …I have nowhere to go.”
“Governments have arrived and left, even Mayawati was here, she used no targeted harassment, no Hindu-Muslim issues, and there’s no such sentiment here, yet BJP is using such issues to create tensions here.” Seema said.
Sabir, another victim of the systematic clearing of the Nai Basti area, has been able to eat only when welfare organisations distributed food amongst the locals. “You must have seen it in videos, how the JCBs finished everything in their sight. On August 14, India was anticipating Independence Day, but for us, the remaining houses were also demolished,” said Sabir, an out-of-work father of two.
Pointing to a yellow tenement in the rubble, Sabir said, “Even the bricks of their home have been pressed to powder by the JCB. We can’t even rebuild.”
The owner of the said yellow tenement, Sultana Bi, has a shrunken form as she sits on wooden planks in her makeshift home. Her husband and mother-in-law share a quietude amid the harshness of the sun that pierces through the thinness of the tenement. Sultana Bi did not refuse to speak to The Wire, but rather said that she had nothing to say and that nothing would bring back her home. “Can you rebuild my house? Can you give me a new house here? Allah knows my heart is not at peace, they bulldozed our life,” she said.
Nagina, 55, has tears in her eyes as she sits on her khaat, which the only thing that survived after her home was demolished. While she admits that the government had served them eviction notices, she also says that no specific date was mandated for the demolitions to take place.
“We were aware that the railway authorities needed 30 feet space for the railway line to Vrindavan. But when they abruptly brought the bulldozers, they demolished more than the space they initially informed us about. My daughter’s dowry is now buried under the broken bricks of my 40-year-old house,” she said.
Sajjo Naaz, Nagina’s neighbour, also alleged that the police did not let the locals even save the Quran before JCBs flattened their years of hard work. “We earn hand-to-mouth, with such meagre earning, do you think we can build again?” asked Naaz.
Nagina and Naaz both also highlight that in such an atmosphere, it is unsafe for women to live under the open skies. “Yogi ji ne barbaadi ki hai, agar wo bhedbhaav nahi karte, aisa na hota. Yahan ke Hindu bhi aisa nahi chahte ke humare saath aisa ho. Ro ro ke bhi hum thakk gaye [This is Yogi Adityanath’s fault, if he hadn’t created divides this wouldn’t have happened. Even the Hindus who live here don’t want this to happen to us. We are tired of crying now].”
Jitender Singh, a Mathura-based social worker, also condemns the demolitions. Singh suggests that while the administration might be correct in wanting to extend the railway line, the demolitions should have not happened without carefully rehabilitating the community.
On August 16, the petitioner’s counsel had informed the Supreme Court that a substantial number of houses had already been demolished. The court stated that there would be a status quo on the subject premises for ten days, with the case scheduled for a follow-up on August 25.
However, on August 28, the court disposed of the plea. Advocate Mohammed Iqbal, counsel for the petitioners in the case, told The Wire that the court had advised the petitioners to approach the district court for land ownership rights. “We have also been told that there will be no more demolitions in the area. The authorities had earlier said that they wanted to construct a 22 feet wall for their operations but later they expressed desire for a larger space. We had also argued that those uprooted have nowhere to rebuild lives from scratch and even for compensation. We have however been told to approach the civil court,” said Iqbal.
In an India where the bulldozer is increasingly becoming a symbol of the ruling government’s wrath, particularly against the Muslim community, Mathura’s Muslims face a plethora of problems as they manoeuvre their lives in the temple town.
The ‘137 unauthorised occupants’, as they are being labelled by the mainstream media, who were served eviction notices are also simultaneously battling the perceived crime of being Muslims in the Krishna Janmabhoomi area.
Mehraj Alam, a BAMCEF (Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation) worker who has lived in the district for decades, has seen governments come and go. But within the BJP’s tenure at both the Centre and state level, rights have become restricted for Muslims, Alam explains.
“What was the sudden need for demolition of the basti without rehabilitation? Why is there a need to turn the peaceful coexistence of Shri Krishna Janmasthan and Shahi Eidgah Masjid into a Babri Masjid type of scenario?” Alam asked.
Adding to this, a Mathura-based journalist told The Wire that while previously traditional economic activities undertaken by Muslims such as meat slaughter and sale were targeted, now attacks focus on the Eidgah, their place of worship, and their homes such as Nai Basti, make it difficult for Muslims to exist in Mathura as a religious community. – Agencies
