MT Desk: There is intense anger and outrage after the demolition of about 100 houses in a Muslim-majority settlement in the Indian state of Gujarat. The demolition operation was carried out between May 30 and June 1 in a settlement called Nasir Nagar in the Katargam area of Surat, Gujarat’s second largest city and an important industrial and textile hub. Local residents say that bulldozers demolished the houses without any prior notice, as a result of which dozens of families have been forced to live under the open sky. One notable aspect of such a large-scale bulldozer operation is that no government department is ready to accept responsibility for it.

The affected Muslims have raised the question of how such a large-scale operation can be possible without state approval. They said that when the digging machines were demolishing the houses, women and children kept crying out to the officials, but no one listened to them. The demolitions took place between May 30 and June 1 in Nasirnagar, an informal settlement in the Katargam area of Surat, Gujarat’s second-largest city and one of India’s major industrial and textile hubs. Residents said bulldozers flattened homes without prior notice, forcing dozens of families into the open and destroying possessions accumulated over years.

The episode has since evolved into what residents and opposition leaders have described as a “ghost demolition” — an operation carried out in broad daylight, allegedly in the presence of uniformed police officers and municipal personnel, yet one for which no government department has publicly accepted responsibility. Families living in Nasirnagar questioned how an exercise of such scale could proceed without the knowledge or approval of the state machinery. Residents said women and children pleaded with officials as excavators tore through homes, while police personnel remained at the site.

The Surat Municipal Corporation has denied conducting the demolition and said it has initiated an inquiry to determine who authorized the action. Municipal authorities maintained that civic officials present in the area had only been carrying out land demarcation and road measurements. The opposition Congress has demanded an independent investigation, arguing that the destruction of nearly 100 homes could not have occurred without the knowledge of senior officials. Party leaders said repeated requests for clarity over who ordered the operation have gone unanswered.