The protests against the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammed by two now-sacked BJP spokespersons continued in several States on Sunday even as the authorities at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh razed the “illegal” house of arrested political activist Javed Mohammad. Over 400 people — 316 in Uttar Pradesh alone — have been arrested in various States since Friday.
A mob attacked and damaged a local train at the Bethuadahari station in Nadia of West Bengal on Sunday even as prohibitory orders continued in parts of Howrah and Murshidabad districts.
In West Bengal’s Bethuadahari, a police officer said, over 1,000 demonstrators threw stones, damaged houses and tried to put up blockades on roads. When chased by the police, a section of them went inside the Bethuadahari railway station and attacked the train.
Another group of people vandalised the Dhubulia railway station in Nadia. Some employees of the station and passengers of the Krishnagar-Lalgola local train were injured, an official of the Eastern Railway said.
In Purba Medinipur district, the police prevented Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, from visiting violence-hit areas of Howrah, where several BJP offices were targeted, “as a precautionary measure”.
In Kolkata, security was tightened in areas “considered sensitive” such as Park Circus, Kidderpore, Rajabazar and Mallickbazar.
In Ranchi, Internet services were restored after nearly 33 hours even as Rapid Action Force, anti-terrorism squad, special task force and district police remained deployed at strategic locations, including “38 identified vulnerable pockets”.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Prayagraj administration on Sunday demolished the house of Mr. Mohammad, who was arrested on charges of fuelling violence during a protest in the city on Friday after namaz. The administration said the bungalow was an “illegal construction.”
While Mr. Mohammad’s family accused the administration of vendetta and said their house was demolished without any legal sanction, Prayagraj District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Khatri said the demolition was carried out following the “laid-down procedure” after issuing proper notices to the house owners.
The family, however, said they were not aware of any such proceedings apart from a notice carrying back-dated information stuck on their house a night before the demolition.
Mr. Mohammad is a member of the federal committee of the Welfare Party of India, headed by SQR Ilyas, father of jailed JNU student leader Umar Khalid. His daughter Afreen Fatima is a student-activist based in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the number of persons arrested in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the protests on Friday went up to 316, said police. The highest number of arrests was in Prayagraj (92), followed by Saharanpur (79), Hathras (51), Moradabad (35) and Ambedkar Nagar (34).
Senior Superintendent of Police (Prayagraj) Ajay Kumar said as per the investigation so far, Mr. Mohammad had emerged as the “facilitator” of the stone-throwing and other violence that took place during the protest in the Atala area of Prayagraj on Friday.
While the police had earlier blamed Mr. Mohammad for organising the protest and sent his mobile phone for forensic probe, on Sunday, after his house was demolished, Mr. Kumar said they recovered “illegal weapons,” a 12 bore illegal country-made pistol, a 315 bore pistol and some cartridges, and “objectionable posters” from the building. “We are preparing a list of the items seized. They will be included in the probe,” Mr. Kumar said.
The demolition came hours after the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) stuck a notice outside the house warning demolition. According to the notice, Mr. Mohammad’s 25 by 60 feet size ground floor and first floor construction was carried out against the norms of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act , 1973. The PDA said Mr. Mohammad was served a show-cause notice on May 10 to appear on May 24 but since nobody on his behalf turned up or submitted documents, the following day they issued orders for demolition. The family was then given till June 9 to vacate the house but since they did not do so, a notice for demolition was pasted at the gate warning that they vacate the house by 11 a.m. on Sunday, the PDA said.
Mr. Mohammad’s son Umam Javed, however, said the family never received any notice from the administration till the final one before the demolition. The house was not even registered in Mr. Mohammad’s name but of his wife Parveen Fatima, said Mr. Umam Javed.
“It is a lie that they sent us any legal notice,” said Mr. Umam Javed, adding that the house was constructed in 2002. The house was registered and the family also paid due house tax apart from possessing its legal papers, he said, questioning the merit of the demolition.
Mr. Umam Javed rejected the allegations of the police that his father was the alleged “mastermind” behind the protest, calling them “baseless.” “He did not even go to the protest. In fact, he had through his social media appealed to people to remain peaceful and engage with the administration,” Mr. Umam Javed told The Hindu. “It is the height of injustice against Muslims,” he said.
Files plea in Allahabad High Court
The family later filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court and said the land where the house stood was gifted to Ms. Parveen Fatima by her father.
Since Mr. Mohammad “has no ownership over the land and the building”, any attempt to demolish it by the administration was “against the basic principle of law and a grave injustice to the wife and children of Javed Mohammad,” said the plea.
The Uttar Pradesh police said 13 personnel were injured in connection with the protests across the State, while eight vehicles were damaged.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi joined a large number of social media users to condemn the demolition of Mr. Mohammad’s house.
“What happened to Modi’s & Yogi’s sympathy for Muslim women?” Mr. Owaisi tweeted, referring to Mr. Mohammad’s daughter Afreen Fatima.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the demolition of the house did not have any sanction, either in culture, religion, law or constitution. He further asked “what kind of justice” was it that the person due to whom the situation in the country got spoiled was under tight security, but peaceful protesters were being punished through the bulldozer without any proper probe.
(With PTI inputs)
