Muslim residents pay the price as Gujarat hunts for Bangladeshi illegals

On April 30, two days after the Gujarat government demolished the homes of around 1,200 Muslims in Ahmedabad, citing national security, various social activists filed 11 petitions across the state.

Residents filed a plea and, in an urgent hearing where the media was barred, the Gujarat High Court rejected it.

“The demolitions were in the greatest interest of national security based on sensitive inputs in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attacks of April 22, and not a regular demolition drive,” the state government told the court. The drive was called 'Operation Safai'.

Massive drive

Following the terror attack in Kashmir, Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara were subjected to a massive police drive against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The Gujarat police, along with the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC), carried out an operation in the Chandola Lake area of Ahmedabad, where around 890 people were detained on day one by the Ahmedabad city police, of whom 214 were minors.

“At 3 am, over 2,000 police personnel, including civic and other authorities, successfully carried out Operation Safai in Ahmedabad. The drive is part of a statewide operation targetting illegal immigrants, particularly suspected Bangladeshi nationals,” said Vikas Sahay, the DGP of Gujarat.

Ad hoc manner

Activists, however, allege that the crackdown was conducted in an ad hoc manner.

Identities were not carefully checked, people were detained, and their houses demolished on feeble grounds. Many Muslims subjected to such treatment were later found to be Indians and not illegal immigrants.

“There may be Bangladeshi nationals among the residents of the area, and no one is denying that. But, instead of sending these immigrants back as per the process of law, with orders of the Foreigners’ Tribunal, with dignity and respect, they are being paraded through the city. This is illegal,” advocate Anand Yagnik, who represented resident Fulijaha Noormohammed Shaikh, told The Federal.

Shaikh, for instance, has been living in Ahmedabad's Chandola Lake area for over 60 years.

Also Read: Gujarat: Crackdown on illegal Bangladeshi immigrants; over 1,000 face deportation

Losing homes

“In recent days, the state government picked up 1,200-1,500 people from Ahmedabad by tagging them as Bangladeshis. It then released 90 per cent of them as they were found to be Indian nationals," Yagnik told The Federal.

"As part of the demolition drive, the authorities are also bulldozing the homes of those who have not been found to be Bangladeshi nationals. In case the investigation confirms that there are any illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, only then can action be initiated as per the law,” he added.

Thirty-two-year-old Majid is one of the 300 men released on April 30 after two days of detention, after being identified as an Indian citizen by the Gujarat police. He came back to a demolished home with no information about where his family was being held.

‘Who will compensate us?’

“Who will compensate us for our home they demolished without any notice?" asked Majid.

"The police came with a JCB (bulldozer) at 3 am while we were asleep and announced that all men should come out voluntarily or would be arrested for going against law enforcement. When I came out, a police personnel asked me to stand in line behind other men," he recounted.

"We kept standing for hours till they searched the whole area of around 1,200 homes. Then we were made to walk in a queue with police holding ropes on two sides. First, we went to Shahibaug and then to Gaekwad haveli and were made to walk back to Shahibaug again."

Losing everything

"The next day, they made us stay in a rain basera (night home meant for street beggars),” recalled Majid as he collected whatever was left from the rubble of his home.

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“It was humiliating to be picked up by the police for no fault of mine and paraded like a criminal while people were clicking photos and even laughing.

I kept saying I am from Madhya Pradesh and that my family moved to Gujarat in search of jobs 30 years ago. But nobody heard me. Now they have released me, but my home has been demolished, and the electricity and water connections have been disconnected. What was my fault that my family and I are going through this?” he asked.

Families torn apart

The affected Muslim residents didn't just lose their homes and their dignity. Families were also torn apart.

Women were initially asked to stay indoors, but on April 29, women and infants were detained by the Mahila police of Ahmedabad.

The men were kept at rain basera night shelters constructed by the Gujarat government for sheltering street dwellers and beggars, especially in winters.

Also Read: Pahalgam terror attack: Houses of five terrorists razed

The women were detained at the Gaekwad Haveli, a 100-year-old historical mansion in eastern Ahmedabad that also houses the headquarters of the Crime Branch. Teenagers were sent to government orphanages and rescue homes, while toddlers were allowed to be with their mothers.

Scared, humiliated

“We have no idea of the number of people in detention or those who have been released. Many of those who have been released are trying to find out where their families have been kept. All of us feel scared and humiliated. The last two days have been a nightmare and one of the worst days we have witnessed since the 2002 riots,” Dilawar, a 59-year-old resident of the Chandola Lake area whose family is originally from Motihari, Bihar, told The Federal.

Dilawar came to Gujarat as a child with his parents, who shifted to Gujarat in the hope of a better life in the 1970s. The family, like many in the Chandola Lake slum, made Gujarat their home.

“Over the years, we have been subjected to police scrutiny many times. During the pandemic, the police rounded up all of us and blamed us for spreading Coronavirus. But nothing is as bad as what is happening to us now,” said Dilawar, who survived the riots in 2002.

Also Read: Illegal encroachments or targeted demolitions? Gujarat’s bulldozer drive sparks allegations

‘Living here for over 50 years’

“Over 50 JCBs and as many dumpers went about bulldozing the homes of Indian Muslims who have been living in the area for over 50 years," said Mujaheed Nafees, reliving the horror of that night.

"Chandola Lake slum was formed during the 1970s when there was a rapid growth of the textile industry in Ahmedabad. Some of these families migrated here to work as textile mill workers in the 1970s and have been living here since then. Most of these families are from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh,” said Nafees, convenor of the Minority Coordination Committee, a minority rights organisation based in Gujarat.

Also Read: Gujarat: Muslim cattle trader charred to death, family alleges attack by cow vigilantes

“There are not just people from Bengal in the Chandola Lake or the areas demolished in Surat, Rajkot, Kutch, and Vadodara. There are Indian citizens and migrant workers from Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and other states. Many of these people did not get time to take their documents with them before their homes were demolished. We have been making calls to their home villages and calling relatives to get documents and have got 32 residents, who hail from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, released,” advocate Shamshad Pathan told The Federal.

“Besides, the Supreme Court guidelines clearly state that the police cannot take out a procession of accused persons. Yet, the Gujarat police cordoned them off and made them walk around the city for about 6 km while filming them with drone cameras,” added Pathan.