a lawsuit is launched to stop a demolition campaign near the Mathura temple

A day after officials destroyed at least 60 homes due to suspected encroachment, a petition asking for a stay of execution was submitted in a Mathura court on Thursday. The petition was filed near Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi on a railway property.

Yakub Shah, the petitioner, claims that on Wednesday, authorities demolished 200 or so homes in Nai Basti, a neighborhood with a predominately Muslim population, despite the fact that a case opposing the eviction notices sent to the residents in June was still pending in the same court of civil judge (senior division), Mathura.

 

According to Shah, a 66-year-old local, the court heard from both the petitioner and the railway authority before holding off on rendering a decision.

 

“We filed a lawsuit in the court asking for an order to stop demolition work in Nai Basti, a community that sits next to a railroad track and is part of Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi. Throughout the hearings, the legal counsel for the railroad was present, according to Shah.

 

“During the hearing, we argued that the railway authorities should provide their answer on August 21 at the next hearing in a related lawsuit (against the eviction notice, in the same court). Although this was the case, the railroads nonetheless went through with the demolition effort on Wednesday, disobeying the order of the same court and razing 60 homes, leaving their residents homeless. This behavior shows the railroads’ obvious contempt for the court’s jurisdiction in a pending case, he said.

 

Shah said that the remaining properties received new notifications from the railway officials on Thursday, instructing the residents to leave the area within three days.

 

“The railway authorities gave a three-day deadline before starting the demolition drive in front of a police force,” he added. “If it continues, it will defeat the very purpose of the suit filed by the petitioner (against the eviction notice) in the first place.”

 

Wednesday saw the removal of an alleged encroachment at Nai Basti by railway officials, local police, and the local government. According to a public relations representative for the railroads, the area is being cleared so that a wide gauge line may be built between Mathura and Vrindavan.

 

North Central Railways’ PRO for the Agra Division, Prashasti Srivastava, said that eviction letters had been sent to “encroachers” living next to the lines.

 

“In all, eviction notifications were issued to 135 unauthorized inhabitants. Many of them appealed for more time to move, and the government granted their requests. However, no compelling argument was made to prevent the destruction. As a result, 60 buildings were destroyed on Wednesday. The remaining illegal buildings would be destroyed in the next days, he said.

 

The Shahi Eidgah mosque and the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi are next to each other. The Eidgah complex is said to have been built on a portion of 13.37 acres of property that belonged to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, according to a number of lawsuits that have been filed in various Mathura courts. The mosque that borders the temple has to be taken down, and the property has to be given back to the trust, according to the lawsuits.