By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Manipur: On Monday July 2nd morning, the Muslim residents of Kshetri Bengoon in Imphal East district woke up to the sounds of JCB machines which were brought by the local authorities to demolish the structures.
The whole demolition drive which ended in few hours rendered 77 Muslim families homeless. The local residents did protest against the action of the local authorities but were chased away by the police with batons and tear gas shells which, according to locals who spoke with TwoCircles.net, led to injury to at least five persons.
“It was just 7:30 in the morning when police came along with the machines. It was a big surprise for the people as they didn’t expect government to rundown their houses,”Qudus Ahmed, a local told TwoCircles.net .
“Everything was in chaos. There were more policemen than the locals. Few residents including women did try resisting the demolition, but were chased away by the police which led to few injuries as well,” he said.
Earlier in April 2018, the BJP-led state government had issued notification to evict the residents from Kshetri Bengoon Mamang Ching, Mantripukhri and adjoining areas in Imphal East district which the government claimed was a ‘protected’ and ‘forest’ land. The government had claimed that it was implementing the Manipur Conservation of Paddyland & Wetland Act 2014.
The plans of eviction were later put on hold after row brought Muslim community and BJP at loggerheads in the state with the All Manipur Muslim Organizations’ Coordinating Committee (AMMOCOC) calling for 32-hour general strike on April 10.
The agitation was called off on April10 evening after a memorandum of understanding was signed between Government of Manipur and AMMOCC.
“The Chief Minister appreciated the sentiments of the affected people and appealed to call off the agitation. Thereafter, both the parties agreed to continue the talks to find an amicable solution to the concerns of AMMOCCin three weeks and in turn the AMMOCC agreed to call off the agitation with immediate effect in public interest,” reads the memorandum signed by Dr. J. Suresh Babu, Chief Secretary and the Muslim leaders.
The leaders of AMMOCOC submitted another reminder to the Govt. of Manipur on Monday, July 2nd where it has alleged the Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh of backtracking of his promises.
“Centuries of history , communal harmony, peaceful co-existence of indigenous communities have been neglected and poisonous ideologies have been floated to polarize the society and play vote bank politics, “the Muslim leaders have alleged.
The Pangals (Muslims), AMMOCOC says, have been relegated to second class citizens by the government.
“All the steps that your BJP govt. has taken up against Pangals in the past one year of rule indicate systematic stripping of Pangals indigenous identity,”AMMOCC letter reads.
According to SM Jalal Sheikh, President AMMOCOC the government is only targeting Muslim areas.
“If you see the pattern, the government is only targeting the Muslim residents while other communities are left out. Yesterday also, all the 77 houses which were demolished belonged to Muslims,”Jalal told TwoCircles.net .
“The matter was earlier subjudiced and court had ruled that it didn’t had jurisdiction to decide on the matter of enforcement and left it to the government and within a month the govt. despite promising an amicable solution came with their machines and razed the structures down to the ground,”he added.
Jalal says that his Muslim body will gear up its protests against the government until and unless it doesn’t halt its demolition drive in Muslim areas.The AMMOCC has called for a 48 hour mass protest against the eviction drive.
“We will protest against the politics of displacement and de-recognition and will stand for the unity, harmony and peaceful coexistence,” Jalal says.
Meanwhile, the evicted Muslims residents are living temporarily in a Government primary school and the locals have also erected tents to house few residents.
“Local Muslims are helping the evicted families with the food and other essential items, while government is yet to provide them any relief,” Md Raees Ahamed, a civil society member told TwoCircles.
“The evicted residents are totally shocked and are uncertain what future holds for them,” he added.
(All photo credits to : Md Raees Ahamed)