Disquiet in Madhya Pradesh over demolitions without due process

At least 1,453 properties of 779 people have been raised over illegal constructions over the last year in the state

BHOPAL: For years, Vijay Bhawsar ran a grocery shop from his home in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain. He extended it by making a temporary shed to keep more items. There were no problems till January 15 when a banned Chinese kite string ended up slitting a woman’s throat. The woman died and drew attention to shops selling the strings. The district administration soon raised three shops including that of Bhawsar over illegal constructions.

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“I have lost my only source of income,” said Bhawsar. He added it would now be difficult for him to feed his family of five. Zubair and Hrithik, who also lost their shops for selling Chinese strings, claimed they were unaware of the ban on them. They alleged police did not take any action against the wholesale suppliers and targeted them.

At least 1,453 properties of 779 people have been raised over illegal constructions over the last year in Madhya Pradesh. The authorities have maintained this was part of action against mafias and goons and involved properties worth ₹558 crore. In 2020, the government said 2,000 hectares of land worth around ₹10,000 crores was freed from 1,271 alleged encroachers.

Officials said similar action has been taken against people found involved in rape, murder, food adulteration, selling of spurious liquor, inciting communal tension, harassing tribals and Dalits, and recently for selling Chinese kite strings.

A campaign against land encroachers was started in 2019 when Kamal Nath was the chief minister. It was expanded when Shivraj Singh Chouhan took over in 2020 and properties of those involved in heinous crimes such as rape and murder were also raised.

Officials said district administrations take calls on demolishing illegally constructed property after registering cases. The action was accordingly taken against those involved in adulteration of milk in Chambal, murder of a tribal man in Neemuch, for inciting communal violence in Dhar, Khandwa, Ujjain, and Indore.

In September, a 25-year-old man was burnt to death when he was found with a married woman in Sagar. On the complaint of his family and dying declaration of the man, four people, including the woman’s father, were arrested. A few days after their arrest, the district administration demolished their house and triggered protests from their Brahmin community. The community asked the government to reconstruct the house. As the matter escalated, the state government transferred the district collector and police superintendent for taking action in haste and handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

“Without court’s judgement, police and district administration declared us guilty of murder and demolished our house. We are now living in rented accommodation in Sagar,” said a member of the family.

In Dhar, a three-storey building of one Khalil Khatri was demolished after a stone was pelted from it on a procession. Police registered a case against 30 persons.

Police superintendent Aditya Singh said they asked Khatri to show the building permission but he failed to do so. “The house was constructed illegally.”

Khatri said the land on which the building was constructed belonged to him and he did not take the permission for constructing it. He added other houses constructed in the locality were built also without any permission. “They should have given us time but they did not listen to our plea and demolished my house.” Khatri is moving court for compensation.

Rights activist Madhuri Singh said by demolishing houses, the government was punishing entire families with the person alleged to have committed a crime. “This demolition drive is unconstitutional, illegal, and a complete failure of the rule of law.”

Ehtesham Hashmi, a lawyer who is researching the demolition drive, said in most of the cases, the state government says constructions were illegal but should have given prior notices for demolition. “This (demolition drive) is a violation of human rights and I will move a petition to the high court against it.”

After the demolition of three houses in Ujjain, Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Arif Masood condemned the drive. “Shops of retailers were demolished but no action was taken against the wholesalers because he is a (ruling) BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader. Why? Discrimination? Be fair Mr CM you have taken oath of Constitution,” said Singh in a tweet.

Masood accused the state government of targeting minorities through the demolition drive. “The government is trying to terrorise Muslims by demolishing their houses. We are making list and I am sure out of 1,400, maximum demolished houses belong to Muslims.”

Home minister Narottam Mishra rejected the allegations. “Whoever does wrong, irrespective of their caste and community, lawful action is taken.”

Chouhan has appreciated the action against the “mafia” and encroachments. “Action should be taken against both common encroachers and mafia.”