India: Muslim properties razed in New Delhi after communal violence

Authorities used bulldozers to raze a number of Muslim-owned shops in New Delhi before India's Supreme Court halted the demolitions Wednesday, days after communal violence shook the capital and saw dozens arrested.

Shop owners searched through the rubble of their shops afterward to collect their belongings. But for nearly an hour after the Supreme Court order, officials continued to demolish structures, including the outer entrance and stairs leading into a mosque. They stopped the bulldozers just outside the entrance of a Hindu temple, about 50 meters (160 feet) from the mosque, and began to retreat, spurring outrage from Muslim residents who said they were being targeted, AP reported.

Anti-Muslim sentiment and attacks have risen across India in the past 10 days, including stone throwing between Hindu and Muslim groups during religious processions and demolitions of a number of properties, many belonging to Muslims, in another state last week.

Police have arrested at least 24 individuals (mostly Muslims) since communal violence broke out Saturday during a Hindu religious procession in New Delhi’s northwest Jahangirpuri neighborhood. They said Hindu and Muslim groups threw stones at each other during a procession to mark the birth date of the monkey god Hanuman, leaving eight police officers and a civilian injured, local media reported.

Officials say their demolition drive targets illegal buildings and not any particular religious group. But critics argue this is the latest attempt to harass and marginalize Muslims, who are 20% of India’s 1.4 billion population, and point to a pattern of rising religious polarization under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s extremist Bharatiya Janata Party.

On Wednesday morning, bulldozers demolished a string of shops on the roadside in Jahangirpuri while the owners peered out from windows in their homes, watching helplessly as their stalls were destroyed or taken away on trucks.

“They don’t want Muslims to live in this country. Why? Are Muslims terrorists?” said Sabiran Bibi, 31, who has lived in the area all her life.

Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress party, called the drive “a demolition of India’s constitutional values” and "state-sponsored targeting" of poor people and minorities.

"BJP must bulldoze the hatred in their hearts instead,” he tweeted.

A similar demolition drive occurred last week in central Madhya Pradesh state's Khargone city after a Hindu procession on April 10 to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Ram erupted in violence, with Hindu mobs brandishing swords and sticks as they marched past Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. Soon, groups from both communities began throwing stones at each other, according to police.

A day later, bulldozers razed about 56 buildings, including homes and shops, in five parts of Khargone city. Many of them, belonged to Muslims, local media said.

SS