The Panchkuian graveyard of Agra has made headlines after it was revealed that only 20 out of 250 people who have encroached on the graveyard land have proof of Indian citizenship. As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, the majority of them could be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
The Panchkuiya graveyard is known as Asia’s largest cemetery. After repeated complaints of illegal encroachments by family members of people buried there, the management committee recently announced that they will not allow permanent structures to be built at graves anymore. Mohammad Zaharuddin Babar Saifi, the secretary of the graveyard committee had told TOI that even existing graves that have concrete structures will be demolished to allow space for new entrants.
There are around 100 families who have encroached on the graveyard land. Following a notice from the Waqf board, Local Intelligence Units (LIU) have started the investigation into the matter, and administrative may follow soon. Notably, the cemetery committee has banned permanent graves in the graveyard.
The people who live in the graveyard in makeshift huts sell balloons and do low-wage jobs such as making roti at eateries. Children of these families are often seen begging on the roads. Reports suggest only 20-25 people among them have Aadhar cards, and the remaining have no documents to prove their identity or citizenship. Furthermore, many of these families have done illegal constructions on the graveyard land.
Mehfooz organization’s Naresh Paras came to know about the alleged illegal immigrants and filed a complaint to the Chief Minister and Agra District Magistrate to get more information about them. He appealed to the authorities to take immediate action in the matter.
Hindus posed as Muslims to get huts
Paras told Dainik Bhaskar that several Hindu families posed as Muslims to get huts at the graveyard land. He said, “There are many Hindu families. They are living as Muslims by changing their names. The committee has set up illegal settlements for years for their personal vendetta.”
Some of them could be Bangladeshi or Rohingya
The LIU team is investigating the matter on the orders of SSP. Those who do not have identity cards or try to hide their identities could be illegal immigrants, Bangladeshi, or Rohingya. The administration will take appropriate steps once the investigation is over.
Anti-encroachment drive on Friday
On October 13, a team of ACM Pancham and other officials visited the graveyard. After the inspection, they warned the people living here that strict action would be taken if they failed to show the documents. Following the first inspection, a team from Waqf Board also visited on October 18 and pasted notices. People were asked to submit identification documents and permission to stay on graveyard land within three days. As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, the anti-encroachment drive will take place on October 21.
ADM city Anjani Srivastava said, “The graveyard committee has written a letter as well. An investigation is being carried out into the matter based on the complaints. The administration will take appropriate action after the investigation is over. Those who have their ID can stay with the graveyard committee’s permission.”
Maulana Zubair, secretary of the graveyard committee, said, “The people who live here are very poor. Whatever decision is taken by the administration, we will honour it.”
Paras said, “People have been living here for many years. There should be an investigation into those who do not have identity cards or trying to hide their identities. Those who have identity cards are Indians. The administration should make arrangements for their rehabilitation. The government has many schemes for the poor.”
Both state authorities and the central government have raised the problem of illegal immigrants in India several times. Recently, OpIndia did a series of reports on the increasing population of the Muslim community in the border districts near Nepal. The reports suggested that many who shifted to the border areas could be illegal immigrants.
