The rumble of bulldozers made a plaintive cry in the lanes of Bareilly earlier this week, not as part of urban development, but as yet another spectacle of instant justice delivered by the Uttar Pradesh government. The abode of IMC president Maulana Tauqeer Raza and his close aides who were accused of “mastering” the violence that unfolded after Friday prayers were reduced to rubbles, without due process and allegedly without notice.
“You just can not demolish someone’s house just like that, demolition requires prior notice and legal proceedings, what happened in Bareli was not at all done with proper procedure, one can not demolish the private property of the accused,” Advocate Tanveer said, while talking to FoEJ Media.
Bareilly witnessed serious unrest on September 26, earlier this year, after a protest led by Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan turned violent near a mosque and his residence. The demonstration, allegedly held without administrative approval, was called in response to a controversy that began in Kanpur, where banners reading “I Love Muhammad” drew objections from right-wing groups and led to police complaints.
Following this, in Bareilly, large crowds gathered after Friday prayers, holding placards with religious slogans. As police moved in to disperse the gathering, clashes broke out. Police claimed stone pelting from protestors, a claim which locals denied while talking to FoEJ Media.
“First, there was a lathi charge, and after that, stone pelting took place in one area — but the lathi charge happened first.” said a local while talking to FoEJ Media.
“The most concerning aspect of this incident is that many of the boys who were beaten are quite young. Their families are distressed, and the people of the city are also deeply troubled” he added.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav platform X to criticise the government’s response in the immediate aftermath of the crackdown, “Government functions with harmony and goodwill, not lathicharge.”
Thereafter, more than 70 people were arrested, internet services were suspended across the city, and Maulana Tauqeer Raza was taken into custody. Mohsin Raza, the son-in-law of Maulana Tauqeer Raza, was also taken into custody by authorities. In a series of coordinated actions, the Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) reportedly sealed his resort and deployed a bulldozer team to his residence. Officials claimed that he had been operating an unauthorised e-rickshaw charging station on the premises without the required approvals.
The atmosphere in Bareilly still remains tense, and the events in Bareilly have once again highlighted the fragile communal balance in the region, raising concerns about the handling of public demonstrations, freedom of expression, and the growing use of heavy-handed administrative measures.
The demolition drive in Bareilly is not the sole incident that has unfolded after clashes, it is a continuous pattern that the Supreme Court has already warned against.In a landmark ruling delivered in November 2024, the Supreme Court of India held that no structure—regardless of whether it is unauthorised or temporary—can be demolished without adhering strictly to due process and the relevant legal procedures. The judgment, issued in In Re: Directions in the matter of demolition of structures, reinforces the principle that all demolitions must comply with statutory safeguards.
The Court’s emphatic reaffirmation of Articles 14, 21, and 300A of the Constitution comes against a troubling national pattern. Despite the rulings, like in previous cases across the country, in Bareilly too, the rule of law appears to have been bulldozed alongside the structure.
As per the reports, the family occupying the house received no formal notice, nor an opportunity to be heard. The state has repeatedly justified such actions as targeting illegal encroachments.
Across multiple Indian states, authorities have carried out a series of demolitions targeting Muslim-owned properties in the wake of recent communal incidents—raising serious concerns over the use of state power as a tool of collective punishment.
In Maharashtra, the state government demolished 15 structures belonging to Muslims in Mira Road’s Haidary Chowk area following communal violence that erupted in January. Similar actions were taken in Uttar Pradesh, where 11 homes were razed in Bareilly after clashes broke out during a Muharram procession on July 18. The state has faced repeated criticism for carrying out such demolitions without due legal process.
In Rajasthan, a particularly disturbing case was reported in Udaipur, where authorities demolished the home of a 15-year-old Muslim boy accused of fatally stabbing a Hindu classmate on August 16. The incident has sparked outrage among legal experts and rights groups, who argue that punishing the family of a minor accused—before any trial—amounts to a clear breach of constitutional norms.
In Gujarat’s Surat district, demolitions were also reported in Sayedpur following communal tensions triggered by allegations of stone-pelting on a Ganesh pandal during festival celebrations. As per the reports in 2023 alone over 107,449 houses demolished and 58 people were evicted every hour.
