Edited by Deepali Verma
Uttarakhand’s security forces are maintaining a strict watch and a First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against 5,000 people in Haldwani once violent clashes broke out between police and locals in the Banbhoolpura area recently as the administration, in a bid to evict encroachers, bulldozed an “illegal” Madrasa and Mosque among other establishment.
“A case has been registered against 19 named and 5,000 unidentified people and have started arresting them. Several people have been taken into custody and miscreants are being identified and searched for them,” SSP Nainital PN Meena said.
Officials have informed that close to four people had been killed while hundreds were left injured. Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar, returning from Haldwani, said, “It appears that the violence was planned. Police are currently identifying those involved in the incident.”
ROOTS OF AGITATION
Nearly thousands of Banbhoolpura residents stood in opposition of a high court order in 2022 that sought eviction of encroachers from land belonging to the Railways. Though the Supreme Court stayed the order on January 5, 2023, the area has been restive since then.
Banbhoolpura, is located close to a railway station along the railway line, is a densely populated area that is home for close to one lakh Muslims as per estimates.
Paramjit Singh, who is a Haldwani resident, said, “I’m 63 years old and Banbhoolpura has existed before that. Previously, there were only a few thousand families but the number has exceeded now.”
Many families, in the last couple of years, have shifted base from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh towns such as Swar, Tanda and Baheri to Banbhoolpura, given that Haldwani city is the gateway to Kumaon hills that provides plenty of business opportunities.
ENCROACHED LAND
Recently, the Haldwani administration had cleared close to 30 acres of land housing Mazars and Madrasas. Another such structure was demolished from ‘Malik Ka Bagicha’. The administration has further identified ‘Kabul Ka Bagicha’, ‘Safdar Ka Bagicha’, and ‘Najakat Khan Ka Bagicha’ as official land belonging to the government.
Records point out that most of Haldwani rests on ‘Nazool land’, which is the government land that could be allotted to an individual for a specific year and was non-transferable.
“Not just Haldwani, people in several towns live on Nazool land. There is a need for a broader outlook to avoid a Haldwani-like situation,” said PC Tiwari, president of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party.
