India: The State and the Law — Demolitions, the Waqf Act and Anti-Conversion Laws

Summary

UN experts and Amnesty call the demolition of mainly Muslim properties collective punishment, while courts narrow their protection and hear challenges to waqf registration and conversion rules.

What it argues

1. Demolitions After Communal Violence

   Amnesty documented 128 properties demolished in Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in 2022. The properties were mainly Muslim-owned; 617 people were left homeless or without livelihoods. Of 75 people directly affected, only six had received prior notice. The drives followed communal violence and protests, and were carried out without due process.

2. UN Calls It Collective Punishment

   Three UN special rapporteurs wrote to the Indian government on 9 June 2022. Balakrishnan Rajagopal said demolitions are intentional and follow decisions taken by those in power. He said they affected Muslim families disproportionately across several states. The rapporteurs see a pattern in the demolitions rather than random incidents.

3. Officials Promise Exemplary Action

   Uttar Pradesh's chief minister asked officials to act so that it sets an example. Madhya Pradesh's home minister said houses from where stones were pelted would become piles of stone. Khargone's collector said illegal constructions were demolished to teach rioters a lesson. Rajagopal said such statements give the appearance that legal requirements are not important.

4. Compensation And Non-Repetition Owed

   Rajagopal said demolishing homes is not a sanction the law allows, even against the convicted. Victims are owed compensation, restitution and guarantees of non-repetition under international law. Amnesty says Muslim families and business owners still await compensation. India's own constitution and the covenants it has signed both bind it, he said.

5. Religious Sites Razed In Gujarat

   Since 2022 drives have hit Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Kutch, Veraval and Jamnagar. More than 200 Muslim-owned structures were razed at the Gandhvi fishing harbour. Porbandar's Muradsha Pir Dargah and 12 other Islamic structures were demolished. Residents and advocates describe a widening pattern across Muslim areas of the state.

6. Supreme Court Halts Demolitions

   On 17 September 2024 the court ordered no demolitions nationwide without its authorisation. It excepted encroachments on public roads, footpaths, railway lines and water bodies. Rajagopal told the court punitive demolitions are aggravated human rights violations. The order set a national bar, with a carve-out that later drives would use.

7. Chandola Lake Homes Razed

   The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation demolished about 12,000 homes in April and May 2025. The drive was framed as clearing illegal Bangladeshi settlements after the Pahalgam attack. Police rounded up 457 men and paraded them four kilometres, residents said. It came five months after the court ruled in favour of the right to shelter.

8. Water-Body Exception Applied

   The Gujarat High Court refused a stay, citing the November 2024 guidelines' exception. It framed the drive as removing illegal encroachment on a notified water body. Petitioners cited Articles 14 and 21 and the absence of written notices. The exception allowed the demolition to continue despite a pending legal challenge.

9. No Survey, No Resettlement

   Residents say no prior survey, resettlement plan or temporary housing was arranged. Landlords quoted rents up to three times higher to displaced families. EWS housing costs Rs 7,500 to apply for and Rs 3.5 lakh to buy. Gujarat's 2010 slum rehabilitation policy was not operationalised before the clearance.

10. Land, Builders And The Games

    Advocate Anand Yagnik says the drives aim to make Ahmedabad a mega city able to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games. Activists allege a nexus between the municipal corporation and builder lobbies. They say cleared plots had been bought by slum dwellers holding documents. Advocates and activists read the demolitions as land assembly, not enforcement.

11. Waqf Registration Deadline Set

    Section 3B requires every waqf property to be registered on the UMEED portal. The six-month window was due to close on 6 December. The amendment commenced on 8 April, the portal opened on 6 June and rules came on 3 July. Petitioners said six months was too short for meaningful compliance.

12. Court Sends Waqfs To Tribunal

    Justices Datta and Masih said the statute itself lets waqfs seek more time from the Waqf Tribunal. Solicitor General Mehta said the portal works, 1,16,600 properties were uploaded and 99 per cent digitised. Kapil Sibal said the portal demanded details century-old waqfs cannot supply and kept failing. The court refused a blanket order and left each waqf to show cause individually.

13. Chhattisgarh Anti-Conversion Law

    Governor Ramen Deka assented to the Bill passed by the Assembly on 19 March. Unlawful conversion carries 7 to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. Cases involving a minor, a woman or a Scheduled Caste or Tribe member carry 10 to 20 years. Mass conversion can draw life imprisonment, and every district gets a special court.

14. Marriage And Conversion Scrutiny

    Converts must notify the District Magistrate in advance; details are made public and objections allowed for 30 days. Officiants of an interfaith marriage must declare to the authority eight days before the wedding. The authority may declare the marriage invalid if it is intended for conversion. Reconversion to one's ancestral religion is expressly not treated as conversion.