MT Desk
According to the reports, the action of bulldozing the houses of Pakistani Hindus was carried out under the leadership of UIT Assistant Engineer after the relevant orders were passed by District Collector Tina Dabi. The houses were razed to the ground in the presence of heavy police force, forcing women and children to come out on the road in the scorching heat.
The video of the incident was shared by Omendra Ratnu, an activist who has been working with Pakistani Hindu Refugees for many years.
The woman in the video could be seen lying on the barren ground with all the home articles thrown around. The video posted by Ratnu also stated that the women and children were lathi-charged by the police during the event. “The women here can be seen unconscious. This is because the police have imposed lathi-charge on them. Several temples have also been vandalized and set ablaze,” a man in the video could be heard saying. In another video he shared, the women could also be seen being taken to the nearby hospitals.
The videos of the incident were also shared by Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma who said that the poor Dalit Adivasi Hindu refugees from Pakistan were being cruelly treated by the Rajasthan government. “Now their basti in Jaisalmer demolished, citing encroachment. Women lathi charged; at least three were hospitalised. In this scorching heat, shelters and water tanks broken,” she tweeted.
Responding to the event, Dabi said to the media that the state government had not issued any guidelines regarding the resettlement of migrants from Pakistan who had not been given Indian citizenship. Reports mention that the UIT officials had gone to the kacchi basti area and ordered the vacation of the land. However, they forcefully demolished their homes on Tuesday.
Earlier on April 24, hundreds of homes, most belonging to migrant Hindus from Pakistan, were razed down by the Jodhpur Development Authority. A video of the incident was made viral on the social media in which migrant Hindus could be heard expressing their anguish over the action taken by the authorities.
