Discrimination in Access to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

IPT 2.2 | April 2023 | Section 6

Acts of extra judicial targeting and economic discrimination against Muslims by state authorities continued with evictions and demolitions continuing. Some instance of this ‘bulldozer justice’ in the period covered by this bulletin include:

As have a spate of lynchings by private Hindu vigilantes resulting in the deaths of Muslim men, accused under anti-cow slaughter laws, which prohibit the sale, slaughter of cattle in varied degrees in 20 out of India’s 28 statesEconomic boycott of Muslims by Hindu groups continues unabated. There have also been instances reported of state support to such boycotts and discriminations. Some examples of these are highlighted below:

The government launched an ‘anti-encroachment’ and land retrieval drive in Jammu & Kashmir in January. Several homes, shops have been demolished in India’s only Muslim majority region. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries have said that the drive lacks transparency and is impacting people’s livelihoods. Protesting against the demolitions, the shopkeepers claimed that they have been paying rent to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, as proof of their lawful ownership. The demolition drive led to a shutdown by shops in old parts of Srinagar and the commercial hub of Lal Chowk on February 15^th. More than 50,000 acres of land were seized by authorities before the drive was paused, with many losing their livelihood, also claiming that due process including prior notice, was not followed.

After the admin intensified #demolition drives across #Kashmir, people have been living in fear. While speaking to the Free Press Kashmir the affected persons termed these demolitions as ‘unlawful and an act targeting the poor’. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/RWUk9bZYle
— Umar Farooq (@umarfarooq3546) February 11, 2023

On January 11^th in the Lakhimpur district of Assam, 500 families, mostly Bengali-Muslim residents were evicted from forest land for being illegal settlers. Electricity was cut to 299 houses in the area and the villagers claim they were forcibly relocated, while the 500 Hindu families who live on the property were unaffected.

On January 16^th, 6 madarsas were demolished in Kachchh in Gujarat as a part of the border coastal area action plan.

On January 31^st, the Jammu & Kashmir administration demolished properties belonging to the state’s prominent business family, Neudos, who are also the in-laws of the state’s regional party National Conference’s founder. The family alleges that they still had the lease to the area in Srinagar, while government alleged that these were illegally encroached upon buildings on public land.

Journalist Jafar Ahmad’s house in Prayagraj was demolished by the Uttar Pradesh government in March, in a summary action, despite Ahmad claiming he was the owner and had all papers top prove so. The demolition was an apparent retaliation by authorities against gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmad, convicted recently ina murder case, whose wife had rented the property from Jafar Ahmad. A narrative against Jafar Ahmad was also created in the media calling him Atiq’s henchman, ruining his decades long journalism career.

On January 15^th, the Uttar Pradesh administration issued a notice of removal against street vendors in Rampur city’s Jwalanagar area, asking them to stop their trade within two days. However, the Muslim vendors have alleged discriminatory treatment claiming that Hindu traders among those evicted were allowed to sell their goods in the same area in a few days. They have also added that members of Hindu groups such as Bajrang Dal regularly visit the area to ensure that the Muslim vendors do not return.

Like boycott calls against Muslim vendors made during the October-November festival season in 2022, Hindutva groups made public calls to boycott Muslim businesses during the March festival season. These discriminatory calls receive no repudiation from authorities. In Karnataka in March, the Hindu Janjagruthi Samiti, a Hindutva group, submitted a memorandum to the Bengaluru district magistrate to stop issuing Halal certificate to meat shops, and to ban meat for Hindus during the Ugadi festival.

https://twitter.com/AhmedKhabeer_/status/1645928483359686656?s=20

The hijab ban in educational institutions in Karnataka in early 2022 is now spreading to other parts of the country. In January, a report emerged of a college in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, not allowing female student wearing hijab from entering, preventing them from continuing their education.