NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court stepped in to stop authorities from demolishing illegal shops and walls around a mosque in a predominantly Muslim area of New Delhi near the site of communal clashes.
At least 20 people were arrested in connection with the clashes between Hindus and Muslims which erupted during a procession at a Hindu festival. The violence erupted during the procession in Jahangirpuri after a Hindutva procession attempted to wave a saffron flag in front of a local mosque.
Local police and members of the paramilitary forces were present on Wednesday in Jahangirpuri, a residential area that is home to scores of low-income Muslim families, when bulldozers razed shops and walls to the ground.
Recent communal clashes in several parts of India have been followed by demolition drives, which critics say are an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to intimidate Muslims.
READ MORE: 14 arrested after communal clashes in New Delhi
A three-judge panel ordered a stay on tearing down structures in Jahangirpuri, which was led by a civic authority affiliated with the BJP and carried out under the protection of police and security forces. Several Muslim residents at the site said area shopkeepers were not given advance warning about the operation.
India in recent weeks has witnessed a rise in small-scale religious clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Earlier this month several homes and shops were torn down in the central state of Madhya Pradesh and western Gujarat state in the aftermath of communal violence on the day of another Hindu festival. Both states are ruled by the BJP.
