Punjab: Demolition of smugglers’ houses criticized

Punjab: The recent decision by municipal authorities to demolish houses of alleged smugglers has been severely criticised from many quarters. The action of municipal authorities in Batala and Sujanpur last week using bulldozers to demolish “illegal” structures proves that the drive is in full swing despite the pan-India guidelines issued by the Supreme Court last year. Similar demolitions are being carried out in other cities of the state. A PIL has also been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking implementation of the Supreme Court guidelines. In fact, at the insistence of the police, the Batala Municipal Corporation has prepared a list of eight more houses, which will be demolished soon. The argument given by the police is that “demolition is the only way to stop smuggling”. The authorities are acting selectively. An angry police officer, who did not wish to be named, said, “There are hundreds of people in the state who have built their houses on encroached land. Why don’t civic authorities take action against them? In Pathankot, where construction is banned within 1,000 metres of defence establishments, there are hundreds of illegally built houses. Why was no action taken when these houses were built?” Clearly, he is at odds with the official line of his own department. Residents say that if there is one smuggler in a joint family, the authorities are rendering the entire family homeless for the fault of just one person. The Supreme Court had said, “If his (smuggler’s) spouse, children, parents live in the same house or are co-owners of the same property, can they be punished by demolishing the property even without being involved in any crime?” Police officers tacitly admit that the “war against drugs” cannot be won by demolishing houses “but it can be won only when the government develops some technology to stop the drones that come every day from Pakistan, each carrying several kilos of pure grade heroin.” Sources say the police are under a lot of pressure from their superiors to show results in the “war against drugs”. “That is one of the reasons we are going to take such tough measures,” said an officer of the SSP rank.