Making heroes homeless: Muslim man's house behind India's tunnel rescue demolished | Government News

New Delhi, India – Wakil Hasan had to scale the 1.8-metre (6-foot) wall of his neighbor's house to gain access to the rubble-strewn land where his home had stood just the day before.

In India's densely populated Khajuri Khas district, police on Wednesday barricaded themselves in front of a one-story, two-bedroom compound the family had called home for more than a decade, which had been demolished by authorities. Capital New Delhi.

The next day, he stood on the rubble of his house, crying and overturning bricks and wooden boards to retrieve the textbooks of his 15-year-old daughter Aliza, who had to miss her 10th regular exam on Thursday. did. .

“I can't even shed a tear without seeing this destroyed house,” Hasan told Al Jazeera.

Just three months ago, Hasan was a national hero, making headlines for rescuing 41 construction workers who had been trapped in a Himalayan tunnel for more than two weeks.

His team of so-called “rathole miners” was called to the northern state of Uttarakhand after professional rescuers armed with tunnel boring machines repeatedly failed to reach the trapped workers. The nation of 1.5 billion people held its breath as rat-miners dug by hand for 26 hours to free the buried people.

Hasan and his team received national recognition for their accomplishments, including praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a selfie with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. The prize was announced and television stations interviewed Hasan and his team of rat miners over several days.

Just three months later, Hasan's life changed forever when he received a frantic phone call from his daughter while buying groceries at the store.

“I was dragged out of the house.”

Ariza said police arrived at her home to demolish the house and she and her brother Azeem stood at the door to prevent police from entering. It was around 9:30 in the morning.

Immediately, six police officers, including a woman, stormed into the house and allegedly beat Aliza and Azeem, an attack that was caught on camera by members of the crowd who had already gathered.

“I was slapped by female police officers, and Azeem was pushed, slapped and verbally abused. Then they dragged us out of the house and threw us into a police car,” Aliza told Al Jazeera. told.

When Hasan returned home, he saw officials from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the government agency responsible for planning and developing infrastructure projects in the capital, trying to demolish his home with a sledgehammer.

Before Hasan could do or say anything, bulldozers began demolishing the building.

The DDA claimed that Hasan's house was built illegally on government land. In a statement, Hassan's family said they were informed before the demolition and were given sufficient time to evacuate.

Hasan said he had no prior notice and had legal documents to prove it was his home, including a government-issued electricity bill.

“They claim that this action was part of an illegal property demolition campaign, but they only demolished one property, my property,” he told Al Jazeera.

Despite New Delhi being ruled by opposition parties, the DDA and police are controlled by Prime Minister Modi's central government.

When asked about the practice, the DDA said it was routine, non-discriminatory and not targeted at any particular individual.

But Hasan has a different story. “I told them what I did in Uttarakhand. When all the machinery broke down, we dug out those workers. I asked them to consider not demolishing my house. I thought,” he said.

The opposite happened.

“When I told them my name, I felt how little regret and pity they left behind,” he said. “I don't understand why I was targeted. Is it because I'm from a minority community?”

Labor rights activist Sucheta De claims the demolition was illegal and criminal. “If you look at past demolitions, it seems targeted, anti-poor, anti-minority,” she told Al Jazeera.

Lawyer Kawalpreet Kaur, who frequently handles demolition cases and keeps a close eye on Mr. Hasan's movements, said that if Mr. Hasan's property was in fact illegal for many years, it is the government that needs to answer the questions. He suggested that there was.

“He had been staying in his home for more than a decade. The question arises: If the government claims it is their land, what have they been doing all these years?” asked, adding that the demolition seemed like “revenge” since Hasan's house was the only one in the neighborhood torn down.

story of bribery

Many residential areas in New Delhi, a city of over 30 million people, are so-called “irregular” residential areas, meaning not all of them have government approval. Millions of Delhiites have lived there for generations. They include the majority of the city's Muslim population, which accounts for 12 percent of the city's residents, and whose homes have been previously targeted by the authorities, often leading to such attacks on such areas. are forced to emigrate.

Some parts of Khajuri Kaas are irregular. Lawyers and activists say that while individual residents may have homeownership documents, they are in a legal gray area in such areas, making it difficult for government and local officials to exercise power over residents. It is said that The power to regularize an area and eliminate the threat of destruction that always haunts the people living in it, as governments often do to persuade voters before elections. Or the power to carry out threats and destroy homes.

“A large part of Delhi's population is always under threat of demolition and could face demolition at any time if the government so desires,” De said. “There is no accountability in the government. This is the reality in Delhi.”

Often the only way to obtain temporary reprieve is to pay a bribe. Hasan argues that this also applies to Khajuri Kaas.

Hasan said authorities came with bulldozers in 2016 and demolished part of the house. “At that time, my neighbor and I paid 800,000 rupees (in total).” [about $9,500] to them [as a bribe],” He said.

But the employees he paid were transferred to other departments, and their replacements asked for bribes again. “I was threatened by DDA officials that if I did not pay, they would demolish my house,” he said. He had no money to bribe them.

Then, three months ago, authorities arrived and demolished the homes of several Hindu neighbors, Hasan said. However, Mohan Singh Bisht, a local lawmaker from Prime Minister Modi's Hindu majority Bharatiya Janata Party, reportedly intervened and stopped the demolition.

“But when I called him on the day the house was to be demolished, he said he couldn't do anything,” Hasan said.

Hasan believes the main reason the house was demolished on Wednesday was that he was unable to pay the debt. His being a Muslim made him particularly vulnerable.

“It is easy for them to demolish my house because I am a Muslim and my name is Wakil Hassan,” he said.

DDA spokesperson Vijay Shankar Patel denied the charges. “The allegations are not true,” he told Al Jazeera, without providing details on why the house was demolished.

But the bulldozing of Hasan's home follows a pattern in which government agencies target Muslim lands and religious sites across India, particularly in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Last month, authorities in New Delhi demolished a 600-year-old mosque that they said was encroaching on state land. The same week, at least five people were shot dead by police in Uttarakhand's Haldwani town while protesting against the demolition of a decades-old mosque and school.

Human rights organization Amnesty International said in two reports released last month that Indian authorities “punitively” demolished at least 128 Muslim properties between April and June 2022, leaving at least 617 people homeless. They said they had lost their means of livelihood.

When his house was about to be demolished, Hasan called Manoj Tiwari in desperation. Manoj Tiwari is the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from his constituency who gave him a wreath when he returned to New Delhi after the Uttarakhand tunnel rescue.

“I contacted everyone but got no response. Mr. Manoj Tiwari welcomed me and came to my residence. I called him many times. Days passed and he did not answer my calls,” Hasan told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera contacted Tiwari who said the demolition was under investigation. “I told the officials about this. But they were suddenly destroyed. This is an investigation,” he said, adding that he would arrange for a better house “legally”.

“I spoke to LG. [lieutenant governor] Delhi and house were arranged yesterday [Thursday], but he denied it citing distance. We are currently coordinating nearby,” Tiwari said, adding that there was no “common angle” for the demolition. The lieutenant governor is the nominal head of the state of Delhi, appointed by the federal government, and is equivalent to the governor of any other state in India.

When asked about the increasing demolition of Muslim houses, Tiwari said: [the] BJP during election period. ” General elections in India are scheduled for April and May.

“They should have buried us with the house.”

At 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Hasan's fellow rat miner Munna Qureshi was working at a site 35 kilometers (22 miles) away when he received a call from a friend. Hasan told him about the ongoing demolition. Qureshi, who along with Hasan was digging out survivors from the Uttarakhand tunnels, rushed to Khajri Khas.

There, he and Hasan were detained by police during the demolition work, and their mobile phones were also confiscated.

“At the police station, I was punched in the face and verbally abused,” Qureshi said. Qureshi lives in a 2.4-3 meter (8 x 10 foot) rental house, about 400 meters (1,312 feet) from Hasan's demolished house. House.

“What should we do with these trophies and medals? Is this how they treat people who give pride to their country?” he said, holding up a box filled with medals and prizes he received in the tunnel rescue.

Hasan's trophy lies under the rubble of his house.

His wife, Shabana, was with her in-laws in Modinagar, a small town about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from their home, when the demolition occurred. She said the house was purchased in 2013 for 3.3 million rupees (about $39,800).

“We risked our lives to buy and build this house and they demolished it in minutes. We borrowed money to buy this land, sold land in the village, I also sold my wedding jewelry,” she said, adding that she still owes 1.2 million rupees ($14,475) to relatives who borrowed the money.

“They knew who my husband was and still demolished our house. Is it just because we are Muslims?” Shabana asked.

Hasan said he was prepared for a long legal battle. “We don't have high expectations, but we won't move an inch until our house is returned,” the family said as they sat eating on a damaged bed by the roadside. Over their heads were red tarps provided by neighbors.

“They should have buried us with the house,” Hasan's daughter Aliza sobbed.

“Is this a life where you have to sit on a wooden cot by the side of the road?”