Uttarakhand: Over 4000 houses to be demolished in the name of railway encroachment, majority of inhabitants Muslim

By Muslim Mirror

The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered the respondent authorities to evict the “unauthorised occupants” of the railway land adjacent to Haldwani Railway Station, known as Gaffur Basti.

The High Court has ordered the demolition of 4,365 buildings built by “encroachment on 78 acres of railway land.”

According to media sources, 23 crores would be spent on this campaign. Bulldozers will “pounce on encroachers” in the midst of 7,000 police officers and 15 paramilitary groups.

On Wednesday, Thousands of people including women and children hit the streets in the city to register their protest against the order.

According to reports, majority of people living in the area are Muslim.

Several political parties have lend their support to the protesters.

MLAs Sumit Hridesh, Abdul Matin Siddiqui, and Shoaib Ahmed joined the protesters on the dharna.

On Wednesday, the general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind also reached the demonstration site and extended support to the protesters.

Dr. Nayyar Kazmi, State President of the All India Majlis-e-Etihad ul Muslimeen, Uttarakhand (AIMIM), wrote to the state’s Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, over the railway department’s encroachment in Indira Nagar, Banbhulpura, Haldwani, and the decision to demolish the old township.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, he stated that over 4,500 families have lived here for more than seventy-eight decades and have electricity connections, house taxes, Jal Sansthan connections, and other residential credentials.

“In order to spare thousands of families from being wrecked by this one-sided decision, the government should also bring the side of these aggrieved families before the High Court, so that they can be saved from being homeless,” he said in the letter.