On 16 May 2023, the settlement of Pakistani Hindu refugees was destroyed in the Amar Sagar area of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. A video of this is going viral on social media. This shows that the houses of the refugees were not only bulldozed, but also set on fire so that people fled in panic. Action on this colony was taken after the order of Jaisalmer Collector Tina Dabi. It has now been told in the media reports that IAS Tina Dabi is preparing an action plan for the rehabilitation of the affected refugees.
Journalist Swati Goyal Sharma posted a video on Twitter. In this, a fire in a hut-like house and the people of the settlement can be seen. Women and children are seen in panic due to the fire. He wrote, “This video is from the day of destruction of Pakistani Hindu refugee settlement in Jaisalmer. The officials reportedly set fire to a hut adjacent to the temple in the settlement. This created chaos in the colony. The women fainted. The use of fire to drive away people who had escaped persecution is astonishing.”
A video from the day of demolition of Pakistani Hindu refugee camp in #Jaisalmer
A hut next to a temple was set on fire, allegedly by officials. The fire created panic in the camp, women fainted
Imagine being driven away with use of fire after coming here fleeing persecution pic.twitter.com/i0uGuDNYmN
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) May 18, 2023
According to media reports, Collector Tina Dabi, who was involved in controversies after this action, made arrangements for food and drink for the displaced people on Wednesday (May 17, 2023) evening. About 50 families have been affected by this action. Alternative arrangements have been made for their stay. Aaj Tak has quoted Dabi as saying that encroachment cannot be allowed in the catchment area of Amar Sagar pond area. It was explained several times to remove people from here. If this did not work, action was taken. He has said that the district administration has taken several steps for the rehabilitation of homeless families. A survey team will be formed of district administration, UIT and Pakistani migrants. This team will select the land where these people can be settled. Till then homeless people will stay in night shelters.
Significantly, Amar Sagar is only 5 km away from Jaisalmer city. Following the orders of the Collector, the UIT team razed the colony of Pakistani refugees in the presence of heavy police force. Their houses were demolished with bulldozers. Earlier, similar action was also taken in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. On 24 April 2023, the Jodhpur Development Authority had run bulldozers on the houses of refugee Hindus in Chokha village in the name of anti-encroachment campaign. Most of the victims of this action have long-term visas to stay in India, but till now they have not got Indian citizenship.
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