On October 16, the Uttar Pradesh government vacated over 80 houses belonging to Muslim families in the Bahjoi area of Sambhal, citing “illegal construction” and “encroachments.” The move, following an order from the Allahabad High Court, has left many families displaced and struggling to find shelter. Some are now forced to live on the streets.
According to reports, these homes in the Bahjoi area of Sambhal were situated on glass-works factory land and populated by Muslim workers and residents. The police also sealed these houses followed by a power-cut by the electricity department.
The “Stir-Up” After Displacements
The police action started around 8 ‘O’ o’clock when the officials entered, vacated and put seals on the houses of Muslims, amid heavy PAC deployed, while people kept crying and asking for help. These families who have been residing in Bahjoi for more than 50 years were opposing the police action with women crying behind and children saving their books.
Police flung their belongings on the open street. Locals headed towards their friends or relatives to find a shelter.
“I have two little kids. They will take us from here” a distressed woman told the media while bursting in tears.
“My children are small and they will displace us,” another woman said.
Fooled In A Land-Deal
These families belong to the working class, many in blue-collar jobs and are mostly from middle-class or lower middle-class backgrounds who purchased these plots to build houses without knowing that it’s a glass factory land.
As per reports, these houses are situated around the Madina mosque area in Bahjoi on the land that was officially registered in the name of a glass factory, also perceived as the first glass factory in Asia with a huge commercial span across the world.
It’s also noteworthy that they pay house taxes to the government and their ancestors were fooled in a land deal due to negligence of the administration. Some families sold their properties and moved away while some stayed and are now being targeted and have been requesting the governmental officials, courts and administration to let them reside on the site for a long.
In 1994, Purushottam Dayal Varshay filed a petition in the high court to eradicate encroachments and recently in August 2024 the court ordered the district administration to vacate them. After this, DM Rajendra Pansiya scrutinized the case and asked the residents to vacate their houses by 16 October. Police Inspector Krishna Kumar Vishnoi was present on the spot with a team, accompanied by SDM, ADM and CO while the process took place.
Many Houses Were Bulldozed Earlier
It’s not the first time that the houses of the Muslim community have been targeted in the Bahjoi area of Sambhal. Just a year ago, several properties were bulldozed in Sambhal in the name of illegal encroachment and many small shops and businesses were ruined in between. All the displaced were completely devastated as they didn’t have any place to go.
Even this time the Muslim community of Bahjoi has been unable to safeguard their homes against police action. No leader of the ruling party, opposition, secular-raft or the Muslim community has come to support the displaced people till now.
