On Tuesday, houses of Hindu families living in the Amar Sagar area in the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan were razed to the ground with bulldozers. These Hindu families had come to India after being displaced from Pakistan and were living in this area for a long time.
According to the reports, the action of bulldozing the houses of Pakistani Hindus was carried out under the leadership of UIT Assistant Engineer after the relevant orders were passed by District Collector Tina Dabi. The houses were razed to the ground in the presence of heavy police force, forcing women and children to come out on the road in the scorching heat.
The video of the incident was shared by Omendra Ratnu, an activist who has been working with Pakistani Hindu Refugees for many years. He indicated the involvement of ISI and Pakistani Islamists in the matter.
“Now 100 houses of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have been destroyed by government of Rajasthan in Amar Sagar colony, Jaisalmer. This is definitely handiwork of ISI and Pakistani Mullahs. They do not want Hindus of Pakistan to escape. The design is to convert a Crore Hindus to Islam,” he tweeted.
Now 100 houses of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have been destroyed by government of Rajasthan in Amar Sagar colony,Jaisalmer.
— Dr Omendra Ratnu (@satyanveshan) May 16, 2023
This is definitely handiwork of ISI & Pakistani Mullahs.
They do not want Hindus of Pakistan to escape.
The design is to convert a Crore Hindus to Islam. pic.twitter.com/ZmA65yiI4g
The woman in the video could be seen lying on the barren ground with all the home articles thrown around. The video posted by Ratnu also stated that the women and children were lathi-charged by the police during the event. “The women here can be seen unconscious. This is because the police have imposed lathi-charge on them. Several temples have also been vandalized and set ablaze,” a man in the video could be heard saying. In another video he shared, the women could also be seen being taken to the nearby hospitals.
The videos of the incident were also shared by Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma who said that the poor Dalit Adivasi Hindu refugees from Pakistan were being cruelly treated by the Rajasthan government. “Now their basti in Jaisalmer demolished, citing encroachment. Women lathi charged; at least three were hospitalised. In this scorching heat, shelters and water tanks broken,” she tweeted.
Horrifying. Looks like Rajasthan govt is bent on being cruel to poor Dalit Adivasi Hindu refugees from Pakistan
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) May 17, 2023
Now their basti in Jaisalmer demolished, citing encroachment. Women lathi charged; at least three hospitalised
In this scorching heat, shelters & water tanks broken pic.twitter.com/iR8aO8zJP6
Reports mention that these Hindus had somehow come to India after escaping the terror and repression of the government in Pakistan and were living in Amar Sagar for a long time, but their houses were demolished on the orders of District Collector Tina Dabi. This action of the administration was also opposed by the women of these Hindu families, but the women were lathi-charged and were forced to lie down on the streets in the scorching heat.
Responding to the event, Dabi said to the media that the state government had not issued any guidelines regarding the resettlement of migrants from Pakistan who had not been given Indian citizenship. Reports mention that the UIT officials had gone to the kacchi basti area and ordered the vacation of the land. However, they forcefully demolished their homes on Tuesday.
Eviction ordered by IAS officer Tina Dabi
The eviction of Hindu refugees from Pakistan in Jaisalmer was ordered by well-known IAS officer Tina Dabi, the District Collector and Magistrate of Jaisalmer. Following the demolition of the houses, the Pakistani Hindus reached the house of Tina Dabi and started a protest against her order. Hundreds of people including women and children sat on a dharna near her house, demanding resettlement.
However, the officer defended her action, saying that the houses were demolished based on complaints received from Amarsagar sarpanch and local residents. According to her, the complainants had claimed that the Hindu migrants have illegally occupied the land allegedly belonging to the state govt urban improvement trust. She further claimed that prior notices were also served to the refugees to vacate the land but they refuse to comply.
She added that the state govt is yet to issue any guidelines regarding the resettlement of migrants who had not been granted citizenship in India.
Earlier Tina Dabi made it to national headlines after topping the IAS entrance exam in 2015. In 2018, she married IAS Athar Khan, after the duo became close during the training period. The interfaith marriage became high-profile after many politicians, including Rahul Gandhi, hailed it as a prime example of a symbol of communal harmony “in this age of growing intolerance and communal hatred.” However, the marriage turned sour after Athar Khan could not tolerate the fact that Tina Dabi had stopped using the Khan surname with her name.
They filed for divorce in November 2020, which was finalised in August 2021. In 2022, Tina Dabi married Pradeep Gawande, a doctor turned IAS officer.
Homes of migrant Hindus from Pakistan were also razed in Jodhpur in April
Earlier on April 24, hundreds of homes, most belonging to migrant Hindus from Pakistan, were razed down by the Jodhpur Development Authority. A video of the incident was made viral on the social media in which migrant Hindus could be heard expressing their anguish over the action taken by the authorities.
In the video, a woman appeared unconscious due to the stress of the action taken on their houses. The man recording the video said, “Look at her. She fainted. Look around. This is our India. We came to India. They are bulldozing our homes. We were facing atrocities in Pakistan, and we are now facing atrocities in India. Look around. We are dying here.”
Meanwhile, another man could be heard asking for two-day time to vacate the premises. The heavy police force was present with the authorities and a bulldozer could also be seen in the video. It was also reported that the Hindus had said that they bought the land before building houses, but the administration claimed they had encroached the land.
