Several shops owned by Muslims witnessed demolitions by the municipality headed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jahangirpuri district, north of the Indian capital, Delhi, after clashes this weekend between Muslims and Hindus.
Indian activists and journalists documented in video clips the moments of municipal bulldozers demolishing shops and homes for Muslims last Wednesday, before the Delhi High Court issued a ruling on Thursday stopping the demolition to consider its legality.
The bulldozers completed the demolitions more than an hour after the decision.
Authorities say they want to remove illegal shops in Jahangirpuri.
And it appeared in video clips crowds of Muslims and residents of the area and they are trying to prevent bulldozers from demolishing their property, and they said they had not reported the work of demolition in advance, and they have lost their livelihoods and their wares that were not given time to evacuate, and confirmed their access to licenses for decades.
The clips also showed bulldozers attempting to demolish a mosque in the area, before stopping in compliance with the court's decision.
Listen to this shopkeeper who runs a bike repair shop right next to the #Jahangirpuri mosque.
I spoke to him while demolitions continued, despite SC stay order.
pic.twitter.com/bmzzW8y3Tb
— Supriya Sharma (@sharmasupriya) April 20, 2022
The demolition order comes days after the violence that engulfed the area, as a march of Hindus carrying their orange flags to celebrate their religious festival "Hanuman Jayanti" headed towards the area's mosque at breakfast time last Saturday evening.
Gathered Hindus around the mosque and the homes of Muslims in the same night, carrying swords and knives, prompting Muslims to attack them with stones, unleashing a wave of violent confrontations that led to the intervention of the police and the arrest of a number of participants in the clashes, most of them are Muslims, according to media sources local.
Similar clashes have taken place in other parts of India after demolitions that critics say are an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to terrorize India's estimated 200 million Muslims.
I recorded this video exactly an hour after the Supreme Court had stayed the demolitions in #Jahangirpuri.
It didn't make any difference to municipal authorities that the media was out in full strength.
Instead it seemed like a spectacle being staged for nationwide broadcast.
pic.twitter.com/6lW5sBIs0P
— Supriya Sharma (@sharmasupriya) April 20, 2022
And made a leader of the Communist Party of India Brinda Karat petitioned the Supreme Court against the demolition of buildings, describing it as illegal, inhuman or immoral, and demanded to provide compensation to those affected.
In a video, Karat was seen trying to prevent a bulldozer from completing the demolition of Muslim buildings in the area.
Other politicians visited the demolition site, such as Ajay Makin of the Indian National Party, who accused the BJP of disrespecting the law, and Delhi Congress Speaker Anil Choudary, who sympathized with Muslims and criticized police and municipal practices and abuses.