Demolishing minorities’ homes unjust: Congress

New Delhi, August 24

The Congress on Saturday invoked the Constitution to condemn the demolition of houses belonging to the people of minority communities.

“Demolishing someone’s home and rendering their family homeless is both inhumane and unjust. The repeated targeting of minorities in BJP-ruled states is deeply troubling. Such actions have no place in a society governed by the rule of law,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X on Saturday.

His statement comes after the recent demolition of a mansion belonging to Haji Shahzad Ali, a former Congress district vice-president, at Chhatarpur in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Ali’s name had come up in connection with the recent communal violence in the city. The mansion, reportedly worth several crore rupees, was modelled after a palace shown in the Bollywood film, Narsimha.

Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi also criticised the BJP government for the demolition and said it was a targeted action against Muslims.

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Rajiv Ravi had also flagged concerns in a recent Parliament session over the demolition of Muslims’ and Dalits’ houses in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. The MP from Ghosi in Mau district of UP alleged that the houses of the Muslims and Dalits were systematically marked for demolition.