By Guest Author
Ayush Sahani & Talib Zaffer
Nagmi Sultan stands in the same alley in Varanasi’s Dalmandi where unknown gunmen killed her husband. His blood filled the ditches of the pavement twenty years ago. She was carrying the toddler, and the elder son was holding her hand as she witnessed her life collapsing in front of her.
After all these years, she is gutted, standing next to the three-story house she has built brick by brick. Her gaze is transfixed on a two-foot-long fissure that a bulldozer has marked on her wall. It won’t be long before another bulldozer shows up at her door and razes her home to the ground.
“It is not losing the property or businesses that hurt the most, but the fact that they are stealing the memory of my children’s childhood, all of which lives here in Dalmandi,” she said.
After her husband’s death, Nagmi dedicated most of her life to serving those who needed it. At one point, Nagmi not only became a Municipal Councillor of her township but also a symbol of strength for her community.
The demolitions are part of the BJP government’s ₹224-crore project to widen the Dalmandi road to 17.4 meters to improve access to Kashi Vishwanath Dham for Hindu pilgrims. The project involves the demolition of 180 shops, houses, and six mosques. The majority of these properties and businesses are either owned or run by Muslims.
The Varanasi Municipal Corporation served more than 30 properties with notices on 31 January, declaring their houses and shops “unsafe” and asking them to vacate within three days.
When the bulldozers arrived on 9 February and started demolishing houses, the locals protested.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
