Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Saturday joined growing calls of protest against the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) after it demolished the house of journalist Arfaz Ahmad Daing on Thursday.
The order for the demolition on Thursday was reportedly issued late on Wednesday, after which a number of heavy excavators were brought to the house in Jammu and Kashmir's Channi area, amid heavy police presence.
Though the JDA alleged land encroachment as the reason for the demolition, Daing, who runs News Seher India (a digital news portal), claimed that it was because he had recently linked a police officer to suspected narcotics smugglers arrested in a major cross-border drug trafficking case, as per an Indian Express report.
The demolition has left Daing’s elderly parents, his wife, and their three children without a home. Yet, in an act that has won the hearts of hundreds of people in Jammu and the rest of India in general, Daing's neighbour, Kuldip Sharma—said to be Hindu—stepped up and offered him "5 marlas of land".
“I was shaken by their plight and ... have said that even if I have to beg, I will help rebuild his home. Whatever happens his home will be rebuilt,” Sharma said.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media, Deputy CM Choudhary has said that the Omar Abdullah government had no role in the demolition, as it had not approved the order—squarely placing blame on the JDA.
The government has also promised a full enquiry into not just the demolition, but also accusations of stifling Daing's journalistic rights.
“They want to teach journalists and social activists a lesson ... If you are a sycophant, you are safe. If you show the truth, this is what happens,” Daing told the media.
"Is my house the only illegal one in the entire Jammu city?” he questioned, stating that he and his family had lived in their Channi home for 40 years after his house in Bathindi had been demolished, as per a Hindu report.
