“I don’t know what is happening in my country. I have lived in the property for more than 30 years. “But all I can say is that I’m paying the price of being a Muslim.”
“In the blink of an eye, my home was demolished,” 45-year-old Saadullah Baig
Whether it is a small lodging or a bungalow, the solace and comfort linked with a home are found nowhere else. As Sadullah Baig stood watching the rubble and debris of what once used to be his house, the overwhelming emotions that must have filled the forty-five-year-old man were hard to conceive. Although Sadullah lived in a modest dwelling with only two bedrooms, he had a roof above his head to protect him from the darkness of the night and the scorching sun during the day. Sadullah lived in Chotti Mohan Talkies area in Khargone. His house was one of the several buildings razed as a part of an anti-encroachment drive on April 11, 2022. The authorities had marked the area that covered the unauthorized region. However, the site demolished was thirty meters beyond the marked place.
For Baig, there is an extra sense of injustice.
The home of Saadullah Baig, who is standing in the debris, after the administration demolished his house. Photo: Wire
“I want to ask the government, how can a man who struggles to make ends meet, but feeds his family by working hard each day, have the means to indulge in (violent) activities?” Saadullah asked as he stood amidst the metal scraps, wood’s fragments and the garbage piled up on the sandy pavement outside his demolished home. The same place where he watched his three children play happily.
Now, Sahdullah, along with his children, was left homeless. That day, the innocent minds must have wondered why their abode was taken away.
Miles2Smile visited Sadullah’s locality. He was filled with despair seeing the ravages of his house. As a father of three children, his grief knew no bounds. It is hard to imagine his hardship when he must have seen his children walking around the razed building, which was not long ago their home.
“While I stood there watching… (the police) just walked away.”
Saadullah
He was stricken with grief as he watched his house being taken down wantonly. To alleviate a father’s suffering and shelter the innocent children, Miles2Smile provided Saadullah with 3 lakhs to rebuild his home and recollect his defiled dreams of a better tomorrow.
