India orders demolition of houses of 50,000 Muslims in Uttrakhand

The right-wing Hindu government in Indian state of Uttrakhand has ordered demolition of houses of 50,000 Muslims.

The Muslim residents in Haldwani town received the shock of their lives as they were asked to vacate the houses.

Indian intellectual Ashok Swain uploaded a video in which it can be seen that the affected Muslims were crying and praying against the cruel decision of the government.

He said only a brutal and heartless regime can think of making so many people homeless in the middle of the winter!

The Hindu right wing regime is going to demolish houses of 50,000 Muslims in Haldwani, India. Only a brutal and heartless regime can think of making so many people homeless in the middle of the winter! pic.twitter.com/COO7iuw3gl

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 3, 2023

The Muslim women also held a candle-lit protest against the demolition of their houses.

Thousands of Muslim women in Haldwani, India, protesting against the regime’s planned demolition of nearly 4500 Muslim houses, branding them encroachers of the government land! pic.twitter.com/p7lvdIU7UL

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 3, 2023

A day earlier, Hindu extremists had distributed tridents (trishuls) among hundreds of people in Indian state of Rajasthan apparently to use them against minorities.

Hindus supremacists were increasingly engaging in violent activities against minorities.

Hindu supremacists are distributing tridents (trishuls) to hundreds of people in Rajasthan, India. No guns or bombs were used to do genocide in Rwanda-it was done by machetes. pic.twitter.com/zRnZFfDqGY

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 3, 2023

Intolerance towards Muslims and other minority groups is on the rise in Narendra Modi-led India with Hindu extremist groups using violence, intimidation, and harassment against minorities on daily basis in the country.

Recently, a church was vandalized and a statue of Mary was destroyed in India’s Chhattisgarh state.

A video clip that went viral on social media shows that a violent mob is busy dismantling a statute of Mary.

A Hindu supremacist mob vandalizing a church in Chhattisgarh, India! pic.twitter.com/SgPvo7QDJA

— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) January 2, 2023

There were 486 instances of violence and harassment against Christians in 2021, according to a report by the United Christian Forum (UCF), a rights body that maintains a database of incidents of violence and intimidation in India. This is an increase of 74% from 2020, when 279 such cases were reported on the UFC’s helpline.

The UCF said 2021 was the “most violent year for Christians” in India, with more than 104 violent incidents recorded in the last two months of the year. The report says Uttar Pradesh saw the most hate crimes against the minority group with 102 instances, followed by Chhattisgarh with 90. Four states – these two, plus Jharkhand (44) and Madhya Pradesh (38) – recorded 274 incidents of violence, 56% of the total, against Christians.