Local officials in Haryana, a state in northern India, have started demolishing what they call illegal homes that they claim were involved in an earlier this week attack on a Hindu procession that resulted in violent riots between Hindus and Muslims throughout the state.
The violence started on Monday in the Nuh district and swiftly spread to nearby communities, including the commercial hub Gurugram, which is close to New Delhi and where some vehicles, a mosque, and some junk shops were set on fire as well as several restaurants.
The conflicts resulted in seven fatalities, including two police officers.
Since the incidents, Nuh's top police official, Narendra Singh Bijarniya, has stated that police action will be taken against homes that were used to throw stones at the procession, and that punishment will be done in accordance with the law.
Hindu-Muslim tensions that had been building in the area since 2015, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both the national election and the state of Haryana, came to a head with the violence.
The skirmishes, according to police spokesperson Krishan Kumar, brought attention to the dwellings that officials had discovered were being built illegitimately on public property. Officials claimed there was no information on the number of buildings destroyed, while local media claimed around 200 homes were levelled.
In recent years authorities in some states ruled by the BJP have demolished what they term “illegal” houses of people accused of crimes, many of them Muslims. The trend has been cheered by BJP supporters as instant justice.
The violence started on Monday in the Nuh district and swiftly spread to nearby communities, including the commercial hub Gurugram, which is close to New Delhi and where some vehicles, a mosque, and some junk shops were set on fire as well as several restaurants.
The conflicts resulted in seven fatalities, including two police officers.
Since the incidents, Nuh's top police official, Narendra Singh Bijarniya, has stated that police action will be taken against homes that were used to throw stones at the procession, and that punishment will be done in accordance with the law.
Hindu-Muslim tensions that had been building in the area since 2015, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both the national election and the state of Haryana, came to a head with the violence.
The skirmishes, according to police spokesperson Krishan Kumar, brought attention to the dwellings that officials had discovered were being built illegitimately on public property. Officials claimed there was no information on the number of buildings destroyed, while local media claimed around 200 homes were levelled.
In recent years authorities in some states ruled by the BJP have demolished what they term “illegal” houses of people accused of crimes, many of them Muslims. The trend has been cheered by BJP supporters as instant justice.
