Activist Afreen Fatima’s house razed after her father is accused in Prayagraj violence

Mangalore Today News Network

Prayagraj, June 13, 2022: The house of Welfare Party of India leader and the father of activist Afreen Fatima, Javed Mohammed, was razed on the afternoon of Sunday, June 12, amid heavy police deployment. Visuals showed JCBs outside the house and the gates being ripped off the hinges. As per reports, the bulldozers removed personal belongings in the house and dumped them in the empty plot next door, and then began demolishing the walls.

 

This came just hours after the Prayagraj Development Authority told the family to vacate the house by 11 am on Sunday. Authorities claimed that they gave a show-cause notice last month but Mohammed did not comply when asked to appear for a hearing on May 24.

In Prayagraj, a senior PDA official told PTI, "Javed’s house — JK Ashiyana — is located in the Kareli area of Prayagraj. Police force and a JCB machine reached the Kareli police station around 10.30 am and demolition commenced around 1 pm." The PDA’s notice was pasted on the gate of Javed’s home in the city’s Atala area on Saturday night, telling them that they must vacate the property by 11 am on June 12 so that action can be taken.

"The house was built without getting its map passed by the PDA. For this, he was issued a notice on May 10 and was told to present his point of view on May 24. On the said date, neither Javed nor his lawyer turned up. No document was presented in this regard, and hence on May 25, demolition orders were issued," the PDA official said.

Senior Superintendent of Police of Prayagraj Ajay Kumar had on Saturday called Javed the alleged mastermind of recent stone-pelting incidents, and said that he had been arrested. He had earlier said that Javed consulted his daughter Afreen. The UP Police called him a “key conspirator”. Police alleged that Javed gave the call for the protests that eventually turned violent in Prayagraj. He has been booked under the UP Gangster Act.

Javed’s younger daughter Somaiya Fatima told Scroll that the family had not received a notice and also questioned how it was legal to demolish the house since it wasn’t in Javed’s name but his wife’s. This, however, was not mentioned in the notice given to the family to vacate. Somaiya, her mother and Javed had all been detained by the police on Saturday. She and her mother were let go on Sunday morning.

Afreen Fatima, also a student leader, when her family members had been arrested, put out a video appeal on social media highlighting concerns about her father’s safety. The family’s lawyer Kamal Krishna Roy filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the demolition. He told Scroll that the house was a gift from the father of Javed’s wife, Parveen Fatima.“Under Muslim Personal Law when a woman gets a property...It does not automatically belong to her husband. The notice that the government has issued is against Javed Mohammad, but the property does not belong to him.”

 

Officials removing belongings, furniture and photographs from Javed Mohammad’s house as the demolitiin continues in Parayagraj. Javed is one of the accused in the violence in the city on June 10. pic.twitter.com/xlaa13jxrI

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) June 12, 2022

On Friday, people pelted stones at police personnel in Prayagraj and Saharanpur during protests after Friday prayers in mosques. At least four other cities witnessed similar scenes during the marches that were carried out to protest the remarks on Prophet Mohammad made by now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma.

In Prayagraj, the mob set on fire a few motorcycles and carts, and also attempted to set ablaze a police vehicle. Police used tear gas and lathis to disperse the protesters and restore peace. Nupur Sharma was suspended by the BJP as several Islamic nations denounced her comments on the Prophet during a TV debate.

A day earlier, the properties of two people accused of rioting were demolished in Saharanpur where stone-pelting had taken place as well. Superintendent of Police, City (Saharanpur), Rajesh Kumar had said two accused who created ruckus have been identified through CCTV footage as Muzammil, a resident of Rahat Colony, 62 Futa Road, and Abdul Vakir, a resident of Khata Khedi. Municipal corporation teams bulldozed their illegal properties, he said.

In a tweet in Hindi on Saturday, Mrityunjay Kumar, the media adviser to the Chief Minister, had said, "Unruly elements remember, every Friday is followed by a Saturday" and posted a photo of a bulldozer demolishing a building.

Courtesy: The News Minute