{"id":52306,"date":"2024-01-25T15:59:35","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T15:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/muslim-shopfronts-torn-down-in-mumbai-after-ram-temple-opening-sparks-communal-clashes\/"},"modified":"2024-01-25T15:59:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T15:59:35","slug":"muslim-shopfronts-torn-down-in-mumbai-after-ram-temple-opening-sparks-communal-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/muslim-shopfronts-torn-down-in-mumbai-after-ram-temple-opening-sparks-communal-clashes\/","title":{"rendered":"Muslim shopfronts torn down in Mumbai after Ram temple opening sparks communal clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Authorities in India\u2019s financial capital Mumbai have torn down several Muslim-owned makeshift shopfronts after communal clashes sparked by a divisive Hindu temple opened this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n<p>Minor clashes broke out on Sunday in parts of Mumbai, including one incident where Hindus chanting religious slogans passed through a Muslim neighbourhood on the megacity\u2019s outskirts.<\/p>\n<p>No serious injuries were reported in the melee but by Tuesday, authorities had called in excavators to knock down more than a dozen shopfronts belonging to Muslims in that locality, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n<p>The following evening another 40 shopfronts were knocked down on Mohammed Ali Road, a major downtown thoroughfare and centre of local Muslim commerce that had also seen weekend clashes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were undertaking deep clearing of the road in which some temporary hawkers and so forth were removed,\u201d a local municipal officer, who declined to be named, told <em>AFP<\/em> on Thursday.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1808132\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Numerous traders of all faiths often build makeshift shopfronts out of canvas and wood to shield their businesses and patrons from the city\u2019s scorching sun and pounding monsoon rains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot fathom why this was done,\u201d Abdul Haseeb Khan, owner of a restaurant hit in the clearance drive, told <em>AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they didn\u2019t want these structures here, they should have informed us and we would have removed it. This is no way to take action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Municipal officials told local media that the campaign was \u201croutine\u201d and planned before Sunday\u2019s clashes, and that it was aimed at clearing illegal encroachments and easing pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"bulldozer-justice\" href=\"#bulldozer-justice\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>\u2018Bulldozer justice\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>So-called \u201cbulldozer justice\u201d has been an increasingly common tool of local officials in India to punish suspected criminals by demolishing their property.<\/p>\n<p>Rights groups have condemned the practice as an unlawful exercise of collective punishment that disproportionately targets the country\u2019s Muslim minority.<\/p>\n<p>Aaker Patel of Amnesty International said in a statement that this week\u2019s drive in Mumbai represented a \u201cpolicy of arbitrarily and punitively demolishing Muslim properties following episodes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1768375\">communal violence<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1515834\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Demolition drives have been employed in numerous Indian states ruled by Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in recent years against the homes of people accused of participating in anti-government protests.<\/p>\n<p>Muslims make up the bulk of those targeted in the campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Officials elsewhere in India customarily say that the demolitions are lawful as they only target buildings constructed without official approval.<\/p>\n<p>That is disputed by victims, who say they are not given the legally required notice period to dispute demolition orders.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday\u2019s clashes happened on the eve of Modi\u2019s inauguration of a new Hindu temple to the deity Ram in the northern city of Ayodhya.<\/p>\n<p>Processions in Mumbai had been celebrating the opening of the shrine, which was built atop a centuries-old Babri Masjid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1097857\">torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992<\/a> \u2014 an incident that sparked India\u2019s most deadly sectarian riots since independence.<\/p>\n<p>Local media outlets said at least 13 people had been arrested for participating in the weekend clashes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authorities in India\u2019s financial capital Mumbai have torn down several Muslim-owned makeshift shopfronts after communal clashes sparked by a divisive Hindu temple opened this week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Minor clashes broke out on Sunday in parts of Mumbai, including one incident where Hindus chanting religious slogans passed through a Muslim neighbourhood on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/251843500b997ca.jpg?r=185009","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}