Modi's Thugs Bulldozed My Home. Biden Should Shun Him

There was a protest that was organized in Allahabad, India, by a few concerned citizens on June 10, 2022. The protest was about derogatory remarks that were made against the Prophet Muhammad by a BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) national spokesperson, Nupur Sharma.

There was an excessive police presence and protestors clashed with them. My family was not involved in the protest and we were not present while it was happening. We did not give the call for the protest, and we were nowhere involved or associated with it.

But my father is an active member of the Muslim community in Allahabad, and he is an activist. He's an important member of civil society, so he was in the local police administration and trying to pacify the situation.

Later that evening, he was called by the police and asked to meet them at around 8:50 p.m. That's when he was detained and arrested. We were not informed because we were at our house, but three hours later, the police knocked on our door.

When the police came, they told us that they were taking my mother and me to our father. They did not actually tell us that they were going to detain us or keep us in a police station for 36 hours. I just thought that we are going to meet my father, so we agreed very hurriedly.

In less than two minutes, we got ready and left with the police. It was only after we reached the police station that we realized that my father was being treated as a suspect for being part of the protest.

I should point out that it is not legally permitted to detain women past 6:00 p.m. in India, and if you are to arrest or detain a woman at nighttime, you have to come with written permission from the magistrate of the city or the district, action which was not taken in our case.

My mother and I were detained for more than 36 hours. During our detention, they took our phones and went through everything on them; especially our contacts. They then asked us questions relating to my sister, myself, and my father. Initially, it was just that.

We had no idea where my father was.

The following day, on June 11, the police began telling us to ask the rest of our family members who were in our home to vacate it as soon as possible. While this was happening, they were pestering our remaining family members separately to leave our home, but I had no idea.

One of the police members then told my mom and me that our house was going to be demolished. They said something along the lines of: "You better call and ask your family members to leave the house."

In a very intimidating and threatening tone, they then said: "If you don't tell them to leave, we're going to beat you up and charge a case against you."

That night, around 10:00 p.m., a notice was placed on the gate of our house saying that it would be publicly demolished the next morning.

Because my mom and I were detained, I did not know that the notice was placed on our door until after. Some police members asked us if we had any family members who would be able to take us in.

They were perhaps trying to show their humanity in some sense, but I don't know. I did not know how to respond, I felt very weird, and I was worried for my father.

My mother and I were released from our detention center on June 12 in the morning, around 9:00 a.m. We were dropped at a relative's place as we were not allowed to go back to our house, and our cell phones were returned to us.

At around 1:00 p.m., they started demolishing my childhood home. I saw the demolition with my sister on YouTube live.

A lot of news outlets were present, covering the demolition and broadcasting it to their channels. I remember watching and thinking: It's hitting this part of our house, and now it's hitting that part of our house. It was a very emotional time for us.

But we were more concerned about Abu, our father, because we did not actually know where he was or if he was sent to jail. Even while we were watching the demolition, we were praying for Abu more.

It felt like the state was using the abolition of our house to send out the message that Muslims cannot live safely in India.

I later found out that my father was used as a scapegoat and accused of being a mastermind behind the protest. My father had been a part of several peace committees and negotiation committees between the Muslim community and the police administration for a long time.

During the winter, he would distribute blankets and food into the city. We never suspected that he would be framed as a terrorist or as someone who was anti-national, all because he is a Muslim.

We finally got to see Abu, and we met him in jail a few times. He was charged under the National Security Act, which is used against terrorists and means that a person can be detained in jail for up to a year without a trial.

It is hard navigating everyday life without Abu because he's still in jail. It's hard for us because we lost our home too, and we're barely managing.

It's been almost one year since our father was arrested and our house demolished. We tried to arrange for a parole hearing but it was denied. The civil and human rights of a person aren't being followed in India right now when it comes to Muslims.

People are being arrested and detained for no crimes at all—your house can be demolished for no crime at all.

They claim that our house was demolished because it was an illegal property. But we had been living in that very house for 20 years. I was born in that house. We never once received any notice that our house was illegal, or the construction was illegal. We had been paying our electricity bills, our house tax, everything. But I feel that the state decided that they wanted to frame my father and that they wanted to punish our family.

My stand on the meeting between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that it should not happen. Modi was once banned from visiting the U.S.

He was the orchestrator of the 2002 Gujarat riots that happened against the Muslims, resulting in the death of thousands of Muslims that were burned and butchered in broad daylight, all when Modi was the chief minister of the state.
This dialogue should not happen. Biden should have a basic sense of human rights. He should not be meeting a man who is the orchestrator of mass violence against minorities in India.

It's sad seeing that the international community cares very little about the human rights violations that are happening in India and that they are choosing to look away from it.

There are currently campaigns going on against Muslims, and all sorts of workers are being driven out of India.

I believe that the genocide of Muslims is about to happen in India. And I'm not exaggerating when I call it genocide, because Muslims in India right now are living in a perpetual state of violence where there is an attack every day.

Sumaiya Fatima is the daughter of renowned activist, Javed Mohammed. On June 12, 2022, their house was demolished by the state in India. Javed Mohammad was accused of being behind a pro-Muslim protest that took place on June 10, 2022. He is still in prison.

All views expressed in this article are the author's own.

As told to Newsweek's associate editor, Carine Harb.

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