Abdul Alim Jafri, TwoCircles.net
Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh): As the bulldozer demolished and reduced Noor’s home to rubble, she stood frozen, watching everything her father had built with years of sweat and sacrifice vanish within minutes. The Bareilly district administration’s action did not just take away her home — it shattered her dreams and every hope she had nurtured in it.
The pain was unbearable. It was a silent scream echoing in her heart as she sifted through the debris, searching for her documents and jewelry and other valuable items she once owned. It is Ramadan, a month of faith and devotion, but for her, there was no iftar to prepare, no joy in fasting and no excitement for Eid. With nothing left but grief, she stood amidst the ruins, wondering how to rebuild a life that had been mercilessly torn apart.
On July 18, 2024, communal clashes broke out between two groups over a change in the route of a Muharram procession in Gausganj village of Shahi police station, nearly 50 km from Bareilly district, left one Hindu man dead and several others injured.
When the body of the deceased reached the village, the family refused to perform the last rites and insisted that the last rites would not be performed until the bulldozer action was taken against the accused. The police administration immediately called for a bulldozer and razed the house of the eight families for “encroaching on government land”. On July 19, over 42 Muslim families fled or were forcibly displaced. Meanwhile, at least 58 Muslim men arrested continue to languish in jail.
“Not only was my house bulldozed by the administration without any prior notice, but all valuable items, including jewelry and cash, were looted by Narendra, Omkar and Netrapal along with other villagers in front of the police. My documents were burnt by them before my eyes, and the police did not even intervene,” she alleged, taking to TwoCircles.net.
Two days after the incident, as tensions escalated, she said, a huge crowd stormed into her house and started “misbehaving” with women and “abusing” them.
“It felt like a riot-like situation. The police kicked us out from our home. We were not even given time to put on slippers or carry a dupatta We rushed towards Bareilly’s Dargah Ala Hazrat for shelter and in hope they (the committee head) will raise our concern before the administration, but they turned a deaf ear. It has been more than eight months and we are taking shelter at a relative’s place. We became refugees in our own district,” she narrated the horror.
Noor’s father, Bakhtawar Ali, who was a Prantiya Rakshak Dal (PRD) jawan posted at Bareilly, was booked under the National Security Act (NSA) on November 7. He was labelled as the “mastermind”. Since then, he has been languishing in jail without trial.
The NSA gives the government the power to keep an accused in jail for up to a year without trial and blocks all efforts to get bail. His services were terminated by the UP government after his arrest on July 22.
Noor’s two brothers too have been charged under the stringent legislation and are lodged in the prison for the last nine months.
Due to financial constraints, she finds herself unable to secure bail for her brothers, leaving them trapped in a legal ordeal with no immediate relief in sight.
“I have lost everything. I don’t have enough money to get my father and brother bailed out. When the incident took place, my father was on duty and one of my brothers was in Delhi and the other was at home. They were picked up from home and told that they would be released after interrogation, but they were all put in jail instead,” said Noor and burst into tears.
Wiping tears rolling down her face, she tried hard to describe the unimaginable suffering she and fellow villagers of her hamlet face every day after the bulldozer drive but broke down again.
While most villagers have been allowed to return after eight months, Noor’s family allegedly remains banned as she claimed local SHO Amit Kumar Balyan said that Bakhtiar’s family has no right to come to the village until they apologies.
A few months ago, Noor got admission in nursing in ANA Group of Institute Bareilly and submitted half of the fees but her dream of studying was shattered because her documents were burnt.
She believes that her father and brothers are paying the price simply because she dared to raise her voice against the injustice they met during the incident.
“One-sided action has been taken by the administration because we are the only literate in our village. After all, when the rest of the villagers are returning to their homes, why are we not? What is our fault,” Noor questioned.
Reacting to the police action, Noor claimed both factions were involved in the violence on July 19. “The police have registered the complaint of the other group while my father and two brothers were made scapegoats along with others belonging to our community. The police refused to register our complaint,” she said.
Another villager, Tajuddin, whose house is situated in the middle of a Hindu-concentrated locality, suffered massive losses during the violence.
“I had recently gotten married and had jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh, all of which was stolen. They also took my refrigerator, washing machine, cooler, utensils, and even water taps. They did not spare anything — not even my cattle or food grains. Two buffaloes, six goats and nearly 50 quintals of wheat and paddy were looted by the villagers,” said Tajuddin, who is a carpenter by profession.
He added even after seven months, the police have refused to register his complaint.
Despite losing everything, Tajuddin has allegedly been barred from returning home for eight months, as police claim, “his return could escalate tensions”.
“Everything of mine has been looted. Not even a spoon is left in the house. I have to start from scratch but still I cannot go back to my house and neither is my complaint being registered,” he further added.
Another local Rahees whose farming equipment worth Rs 3 lakh, jewelry worth Rs 2.5 lakh allegedly looted by rioters and fully grown poplar and eucalyptus woods worth 4s 4 lakh cut by them.
Haneef, younger brother of Rahees is in jail and his house was demolished by the authority. With no hope from administration and not allowed to return his village, he taking shelter at a relative place.
When this reporter reached out to SHO Amit Balyan over the demolition, he said, “Eight property owners had illegally extended their buildings onto the road. These unauthorised structures were removed to widen the road for villagers. The mosque was also within the encroached area but was spared.”
‘Pressure to sell house at a throwaway price’
After the July 19 incident, Gausganj village and surrounding areas remained tense, with shops and business establishments remaining closed and police conducting flag marches in the area.
Now, 11 of those families have returned under security cover — not to homes, but to rubble, looted utensils, essential and broken doors and a village where all of them grow together became a haunted village for Muslims.
With no hope of justice, most of the Muslims families who returned under police security have allegedly been pressurised to sell their houses at throwaway prices.
“We get offers through common connections, asking us to sell houses at throwaway prices,” says a returnee, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We were born and raised here. We are poor labourers. With hard work and adding every single penny, we built small houses so that our children can live peacefully and now people from other community giving us offer to sell it.”
A middle-aged woman was sitting on the ramp outside her house, probably calculating the loss she suffered. “I don’t want to talk. At least, I have my home back,” she said adding that she has no idea how will her husband and her son will come out of jail.
Shamim Khan Sultani, Mahanagar president of the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), said, “The affected families told me that people from other faith do not want them to return at first place after they migrated out of fear in July. But when a couple of families returned to reclaim their house, some people want them to sell their houses and land.”
These families presently rely entirely on donations. “We survive on the help of an NGO that gives us food and essentials like utensils and brooms,” says Roshan, whose husband is still in jail.