The Kanpur Development Authority (KDA) has demolished a graveyard almost 100 years old in Kanpur, India, with bulldozers in the name of an anti-encroachment drive. The episode has provoked strong anger among local residents and members of the graveyard committee.
The graveyard committee says the graveyard has been on the site for about a century. It says there are historical documents, decades old, supporting its existence and standing. The committee alleges that although it submitted various documents relating to the graveyard to the KDA, the eviction drive was carried out in disregard of them.
According to reports, bulldozers were used in the operation, damaging a large part of the graveyard along with the boundary wall and other structures. Local residents tried to stop the operation, but police were deployed at the scene.
KDA officials say the land had been illegally occupied and that the operation was carried out as part of routine anti-encroachment work.
The graveyard committee rejects the KDA’s claim. Its position is that it holds the necessary documents on the ownership and location of the graveyard. The committee has also asked why the graveyard was demolished even after those documents were submitted and objections raised.
The episode has created concern among local people about the protection of old graveyards and religious and community property, and about whether proper legal process was followed before any structure was demolished.
The graveyard committee said it would continue a legal fight in the relevant court to protect the remaining land, and would apply for the necessary measures to safeguard the graveyard.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report