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HomeIndiaGovernance‘Mysterious fire’ destroys 20 Dalit houses in UP village during demolition drive

‘Mysterious fire’ destroys 20 Dalit houses in UP village during demolition drive

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A demolition team had arrived at the site Monday on the orders of the Karchana sub-divisional magistrate, following a court directive, when fire from an unknown source reportedly consumed the homes.

New Delhi: Twenty Dalit families in a village in Allahabad district have lost their homes, allegedly in a “mysterious fire”, during a demolition drive by authorities against encroachment.

The families, members of the Pasi community, are said to have lived on a patch of land in Kaundhiyara village of Karchana tehsil, about 30 km from Allahabad, for 40 years but the plot had been embroiled in litigation.

A demolition team had arrived at the site Monday on the orders of the Karchana sub-divisional magistrate, following a court directive, when fire from an unknown source burnt the houses down.

Although there were no casualties, the inhabitants, comprising landless labourers and farmers, said they had lost all their belongings.

The Karchana police and panchayat officials were present in the village for removing the encroachment when the fire started around 11 am.

“The process was taking place when a man created chaos and set his own home on fire,” Sandeep Tiwari, Kaundhiyara police station officer, told ThePrint by phone. “We caught him, filed a case against him and now he is in jail.”

Karchana sub-divisional magistrate Kuldev Singh also said that the fire spread from a source within the community and that “it was the fault of these encroachers”.

However, Babloo Bhartiya, the brother of the arrested man, Kuldeep Bhartiya, said Kuldeep had been falsely accused.

“They took my brother to the police station, accusing him of starting the fire, but no one actually saw who set the fire. My brother had just gone in to shift a cupboard outside the house,” Babloo told ThePrint by phone.

“We were all trying to get our belongings out during the demolition. We called the fire department, but the fire-tanker came after an hour and the fire had already burnt down houses. The bulldozers didn’t stop tearing down houses even when the fire started.”

The dispute

The land occupied by the families was recorded as a pond under the panchayat’s ownership. In 2014, Ramchand Shukla, said to be a wealthy local, moved the Allahabad High Court with a PIL seeking the restoration of the dried-up pond. The residents allege that Shukla, who owns some land around the pond, had sights set on the plot where they resided too.

The court ruled in his favour, and issued instructions to the district administration to take action.

In 2015, the district administration offered to rehabilitate the Pasi community to another site, but the community protested against the move, arguing that the alternative offered, a piece of land allegedly ridden with potholes, was unfit for human habitation.

As a result, the district administration agreed to let the Pasi community stay on the pond plot, and decided to develop the alternative site as a pond. This was treated as a compliance of the high court order, and the administration dropped the demolition exercise.

However, Shukla again moved the Allahabad High Court, reportedly seeking that the original pond plot be vacated. Through 2017, the court repeatedly prodded the administration to free up the land, before finally setting a three-month deadline earlier this year.

“The court set 23 May as the deadline to remove the encroachment,” Tiwari said.

Pasi villagers watch as the encroachment settlement is demolished
Pasi villagers watch as the encroachment settlement is demolished | Ram Kailash

Allegations

The families have alleged that they were not notified about the date of the demolition drive, blaming the ‘surprise factor’ for worsening their loss.

“They came to the pond  Saturday and said they were here to measure the land, but they never told us that they would come back to tear everything down,” said 51-year-old Ramraj, left dispossessed along with his wife, two sons, two daughter-in-laws and two grandchildren. “If they had, we would have at least got time to shift our belongings out,” he added.

There have also been allegations that they hadn’t been offered alternative accommodation, a claim disputed by the Karchana district administration.

However, Karchana sub-divisional magistrate Kuldev Singh said the families had been allotted alternative land for settlement but were unwilling to move.

“We had been given three months by the high court to remove the encroachers. We had allotted them land 500 metres away from the pond, plots of 110 square metres for each family, in January 2017. We had also made recommendations to the block development officer to rehabilitate them under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana as well,” he said.

“But they did not move so we could not help it,” he said. “I have to provide an affidavit for compliance in the high court Tuesday, so we had to remove them.”

Dharmendra Tapaswi, also a Pasi who runs a local business, said he saw the episode unfold Monday. “The village panchayat themselves gave us this land 40 years ago and now they are chasing us out. Doesn’t the government have any responsibility?” he said.

Pasi community members seek refuge on a field near the pond after their homes burnt down Sunday
Pasi community members seek refuge on a field near the pond after their homes burnt down Monday | Dharmendra Tejaswi

Road ahead unclear

The families have currently sought refuge in a field near their scorched settlement, with no idea about the road ahead. “We are sitting here under the bare sky in an open field. We don’t have any land or property. We have our family and young children, where do we go?” asked Ramraj, “Should we set ourselves on fire too?”

“For us people, there is no politician willing to take a stand, no one to see if we get shelter. Whose homes do we go into? In this scorching heat, do we just die in this field?” he added.

Ram Kailash, president of the Allahabad chapter of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Sabha, said the Pasis faced grave discrimination locally. “Pasis are schedule castes and they are discriminated against everywhere here. They are forced to live away from towns, on the outskirts of villages,” he added. “Untouchability and whatnot are still practised here.”

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