Muslim clerics to approach HC against MP govt’s bulldozer drive

Bhopal: A group of Muslim clerics in Bhopal on Saturday decided to approach the Madhya Pradesh High Court against the state government’s bulldozer drive following the recent communal violence in Khargone and Barwani districts.
The clerics, led by Shahar Qazi Syed Mushtaque Ali Nadwi, alleged that the state government made several Muslim families homeless and forced them to survive under the open sky in this scorching heat.
The clerics also accused the BJP-led state government of biasness and targeting the community without any prior investigation into the cases of violence. They claimed that houses of many families were demolished although none of the family members was involved in the violence.
How can the government demolish one’s house when it was built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), they asked, referring to a report that the district administration bulldozed one house built under PMAY in Khargone.
“We have decided to oppose the government’s bulldozer drive in the high court. We have discussed the issue among ourselves and we are certainly going to move the court against this unilateral drive,” said Nadwi.
The demolition drive was started in Khargone and Barwani districts, a day after communal clashes broke out on April 10.
The state government maintained that the bulldozer drive was initiated against illegal encroachments.