Encroachment of a Hindu cremation ground by some Muslims of village Jahidpur, Meerut, UP has led to tensions between both communities, Hindi daily Amar Ujala has reported.
According to the villagers, as per the official records, the land allotted to the Hindu cremation ground is around 8.5 bigha (approximately 5.42 acres). But due to encroachment since 2011, this has been reduced to 6 bigha (approximately 3.83 acres).This issue has led to several confrontation between both communities in the village, which has almost equal population of Hindus and Muslims.
About 2 years back, when a Muslim family started construction work on the encroached land of the cremation ground, the Hindus protested against it and asked the authorities to stop that construction, demolish the structure and free the encroached land. To defuse the tension, police-administration ordered for metering of the said land and building a boundary wall. To fulfill this, sometime back, the municipal corporation had measured the land and issued a tender to build walls around the said land.
The work of constructing walls on 3 sides was completed and just as the construction work in the direction of encroached land began, ward councillor Shaukat Pradhan reached the site and along with corporation book-keeper Kunwarpal, ordered to stop the work. And as soon as the construction stopped, some Muslims community filled the foundation that was dug for the construction of the wall, leading to tension in the village. Surprisingly, Kharkhoda Inspector Rajendra Tyagi has denied knowledge of the issue.
Villagers have blamed the corporation book-keeper and ward councillor for deliberately stopping the construction of walls around the cremation ground. The book-keeper has been posted in Meerut for 15 years and does as he wishes, they allege. Ward 36 councillor Shaukat Pradhan belongs to village Jahidpur only.
Nisha Anant, SDM of Meerut has said that she will herself visit the area to investigate the matter.
(Featured image for representative purpose only. Source)
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