On Saturday, thousands of Muslim residents in Haldwani staged a protest on December 28 against the clearance of illegal encroachments on railway land in accordance with a High Court ruling. The demonstrators claimed that removing the illegal encroachments would make them homeless.
The protesters also claimed that the clearance of encroachments would affect a large number of women, children, and elderly persons residing in the area. One such video of the said protest was shared by Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who alleged that the government’s move would render around 4,500 families, who have illegally encroached railway land in Haldwani, homeless. He also said that the Haldwani encroachers (majority Muslims) were organizing ‘peaceful protests’ in the area wondering where they would move with their families if their homes were destroyed.
Mohammed Zubair, infamous for dogwhistling against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma that spawned ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ protests across India, extended his support to the protest led by thousands of squatters against the court-directed action to remove encroachments from the railway land in the Banbhoolpura city.
WHY IS NATIONAL MEDIA NOT COVERING THIS.
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 30, 2022
Close to 4500 families in #Haldwani on the verge of being Homeless in the name of railway encroachment,
Thousands of people including women and children hit the streets to register their peaceful protest against the High court order. pic.twitter.com/uCwCYeFzgh
“It’s time to speak up for the people of Haldwani. Amplify their voices. Media is supposed to be the voice of the people, but unfortunately, Indian media has become Govt Mouthpiece. Not one Nation Media has reported this protest,” he tweeted, adding hashtags ‘Stand With People Of Haldwani’ and ‘Speak Up For People Of Haldwani’.
He also shared several videos of the protest in which girls sitting in the protest claimed that they were law students and that they were protesting for their basic rights.
“We are standing against the High Court’s decision to remove our houses from here. There are around 4635 houses in the Haldwani area where more than 50000 people reside in. Where will we go? This decision of the Court is not in favor of the public,” said Inus, who wasn’t adorning burqa and the who claimed that she was pursuing law.
Meanwhile, another girl said that she was desperate to attend the school and make her future but the government was meddling with her plans by ‘snatching’ away her school and her home.
“Humare school nahi tutne chahiye, school tuk Gaye toh hum padhenge kaise, hume siksha kaise milegi, humara future barbaad hojayega” Says a School Kid. #haldwani pic.twitter.com/J4fdJzQlV3
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) December 31, 2022
“Why is National media silent, There were 20-25 thousand people in the protest. This shows that the National media is also scared to cover the protest. ‘Fourth Pillar Of Democracy’ doesn’t fit National media. They shouldn’t be scared of the govt but speak for the people instead,” said Zubair in yet another tweet, branding illegal encroachers squatting on railway land as victims of the court’s eviction orders.
Several Muslim social media users also posted the video of the protests and alleged that the government was making around 50,000 people homeless by ‘destroying’ the houses of people who have been staying in the area for decades. “In Haldwani, thousands of families are being destroyed in the name of removing the encroachment at the railway land. In the incident, 50,000 people will be made homeless,” said Umair Siddiqui, a local Muslim resident on Facebook.
Also, Aarfa Khanam, a Congress politician and prominent attorney from Delhi, went live on Facebook to discuss the issue. She said that the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party administration is targeting the region because the majority of the population in the area is Muslim. “We respect the judiciary. But what kind of justice is this that you make fifty thousand people homeless but you didn’t make any arrangements for their rehabilitation” Khanam said.
The demonstrators are being supported by Congress MLA Sumit Hridayesh and Samajwadi Party in-charge Abdul Matin Siddiqui and general secretary Shoeb Ahmad. Notably, the matter in which Zubair and several other Muslim leaders have raised their voices is the matter of illegal encroachment of the railway land in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani area.
According to the reports, around 4000 families, the majority of whom are Muslims have been staying in the area for decades on the 29 acres of railway land that has been encroached upon by the residents. For years, railway authorities have contended that encroachment is impeding growth and expansion efforts.
However, on December 27, a strategy was developed to eliminate encroachments on railway land in the Banbhoolpura district. The master plan was developed during a high-level meeting involving administrative authorities and ADRM railways in response to a recent Uttarakhand High Court ruling for the elimination of encroachments.
The High Court ordered eviction of unauthorized residents
The Uttarakhand High Court had recently ordered the authorities to evict forthwith the unauthorized occupants to vacate the premises from the railway land adjoining Haldwani Railway Station, commonly called Gaffur Basti. Accordingly, the action was initiated on December 29 after providing residents with a one-week prior notice.
Further, in accordance with the court ruling, residents of the Banbhoolpura area in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani who live on encroached railway land were also asked to surrender their licensed weapons and guns with the administration before the process of removing encroachments began.
The issue over railway land encroachment in the Haldwani area dates back to 2007 when railway officials conducted eviction operations for land segmentation and clearance of encroachment. It did, however, result in fights and arson, as well as demonstrations and stone-pelting.
On July 27, 2021, the North Eastern Railways delivered over 1,000 eviction notices to Banbhoolpura residents, instructing them to vacate their homes within 15 days. In April, over 500 people received similar notices, while 1,581 people received identical notices in January. The tenants then contended that the continuous distribution of eviction notices was done only to annoy them while the case was still in court.
The Uttarakhand High Court had previously asked the North Eastern Railway administration to remove encroachments on railway land in an order dated November 9, 2016. In the aftermath of the ruling, about 4,365 notifications were issued in that year. After dismissing the state’s review plea, the court ordered the expulsion of informal settlers within four weeks in January 2017. The Supreme Court, however, postponed the ruling for three months, citing the fact that the High Court had not heard the petitioners before issuing the eviction order.
Families facing eviction seeking ownership rights and resettlement of residents
Families facing eviction have been arguing that the land belongs to the Haldwani Municipal Corporation (HMC) as opposed to the Railways. Some claim long-standing occupancy, stating that they have lived in the region since independence and so the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act of 1971 does not apply to them. Others allege that the property was given to them by the state, while others claim that they bought it at a public auction. However, the counsel representing those facing eviction had alleged in the past that there is a land ownership issue between the Railways and the state, in addition to the demarcation of the land not being complete.
Residents in the Gaffur Basti region have been seeking ownership rights, regularization, the installation of sewage lines, hospitals, and the resettlement of people. They claimed that because the HMC owns 75% of the property, the delineation should be done jointly by the corporation and the railways. They further argued in February this year, that the Railways should only evict those who live on its territory.
‘Encroachment is impeding growth and expansion efforts’: Railways
The Railways meanwhile have maintained that the encroachment is impeding growth and expansion efforts. Several requests for increasing railway tracks in the region, according to the railway officials, were previously submitted to the government but were thwarted due to encroachment. A proposal to build pit lines was received a few years ago, but it was shelved owing to a shortage of area caused by encroachment.
Officials anticipate that eliminating the encroachment will allow longer-distance trains to operate from the Haldwani railway station, resulting in higher revenue for the railways and more accessible travel for the general population.
The High Court in May this year noted that none of the Haldwani residents had authorized documents proving that the land in question belonged to them.
On December 26, the Court directed the Railway Administration “to initiate an inquiry in order to check the extent of the land boundaries and its verification, and after the encroachers being removed after the aforesaid action, the Railway Administration, would ensure that a proper fencing of the railway property is made by the Railway Administration, and would also ensure by deployment of necessary Forces to resist any future act of encroachment to be made on the railways land, from which, the eviction process as directed above is to be resorted to by the respondents.”
“We hope and trust, that the directions given by us after a detailed analysis of the respective rights, would facilitate in ensuring the future railway development, and to curb the menace of encroachment, on the land of the Railways, may be ultimately laid to rest and would be restrained to reoccur in future by the Railways Authorities,” the Court was quoted as saying on December 20.
Reportedly, thousands of Haldwani residents, majorly Muslims, led protests against the government action to remove the encroachment after issuing legal notices a week before. The protesters held candle marches and also offered Islamic prayers on the streets, demanding that the government overturn the court’s eviction orders to vacate the encroached lands.
