by Priti David
It’s a warm April day in Khargone town of central India. The early morning bustle of residents is suddenly interrupted by the steady hum of advancing bulldozers as they trundle into the crowded and busy Chandni Chowk area of this town in Madhya Pradesh. Nervous residents come pouring out of their small shops and homes.
Wasim Ahmed, 35, watches in horror as, in a matter of minutes, the bulldozer’s heavy steel blades crush and destroy his shop and the valuable material inside. “I had put whatever money I had raised into my shop,” he says.
The bulldozers, ordered by the state government, flatten not just his small shop on April 11, 2022, but around 50 other shops and homes in this largely Muslim-dominated locality in Khargone. This destruction of private property was meant to be retributive justice meted out by the state government of Madhya Pradesh to the “rioters” that had engaged in stone pelting during the Ram Navami festival.
But, the likelihood of Wasim pelting stores is difficult to establish – a double arm amputee, he can’t even have tea without assistance, forget lifting and stoning.
“I had nothing to do with the incident that day,” says Wasim.
He used to be a painter before he lost both arms in an accident in 2005. “One day, I was electrocuted while on the job and the doctors had to amputate both my arms. Even through extreme adversity, I had found a way out [with the shop],” he adds, proud that he didn’t waste time feeling sorry for himself.
In Wasim’s shop, customers would tell him whatever they needed – groceries, stationery, etc – and help themselves. “They would place the money in my pocket or the drawer in the shop and leave,” he says. “It was my livelihood for 15 years.”
Mohammad Rafique, 73, lost three of his four shops that morning in Khargone’s Chandni Chowk area – a crippling loss of Rs. 25 lakhs. “I pleaded, I fell at their feet,” Rafique recalls. “They [municipal authorities] didn’t even let us show the papers. Everything about my shops is legal. But it didn’t matter.”
This story was originally published in ruralindiaonline.org. Read the full story here .