The Uttar Pradesh Government demolished the residence of Welfare Party of India member and the father of activist Afreen Fatima, Javed Mohammed, on the afternoon of Sunday, June 12.
Javed Mohammed is allegedly behind Friday’s protest against BJP members Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal who made derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad.
Visuals showed JCBs outside the house and the gates being ripped off the hinges. As per reports, the bulldozers removed personal belongings in the house and dumped them in the empty plot next door, and then began demolishing the walls.
This came just hours after the Prayagraj Development Authority told the family to vacate the house by 11 am on Sunday.
The PDA’s notice was posted on the gate of Javed’s home in the city’s Atala area, informing the residents that they must vacate the property by 11 am on June 12 so that action can be taken.
The notice cites that the property has illegal structures which were constructed without taking the requisite permits and hence, in violation of several building and planning regulations.
Earlier, Afreen Fatima, also a student leader, when her family members had been arrested, put out a video appeal on social media highlighting concerns about her father’s safety. The family’s lawyer Kamal Krishna Roy filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court challenging the demolition. He told Scroll that the house was a gift from the father of Javed’s wife, Parveen Fatima.“Under Muslim Personal Law when a woman gets a property…It does not automatically belong to her husband. The notice that the government has issued is against Javed Mohammad, but the property does not belong to him.”