Dastagir Ghulam and his family are still reeling under the impact of the 2007 Mecca Masjid that rendered them homeless. The family, comprising eight members, who were living in a tiny house inside the mosque compound for decades were forced to vacate it due to security reasons soon after the blast. They vacated the house after the government assured them that they would be suitably compensated and ever since Ghulam has been running from pillar to post for the compensation. On Tuesday the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) took a serious note of the delay and directed the Hyderabad Collectorate officials to give a final report within a month on the case.
“Our whole family used to live in the one-storied structure for the last four decades,” says Ghulam, who is the husband of the petitioner Amatul Batool Firdous Jahan Begum. “After the incident, we were forced to look for rented accommodation or seek shelter in a relative’s house.”
According to him, the conditions immediately after the blast made it impossible for them to stay on. “Within two weeks we had to shift because the security forces would close the entrance after the daily prayers. They did not even pay heed to our request to allow our friends or relatives to visit us. When the then Union home minister Shivraj Patil had arrived, the security forces locked our gate for nine days and we had to enter our house through a neighbour’s gate.”
In the same year, the family approached the home department for help and police officials had even inspected the site and given a report that the property be acquired and the family be compensated. The family finally knocked the doors of SHRC because of the delay. “In October 2007, the commission ordered the government to pay monetary compensation within three months but even then there was no progress,” informed Ghulam. He added that two years ago, the deputy collector of the land acquisition department took measurements of the land for estimation and submitted the same to the minority welfare department. “We have been suffering because of the lethargic working ways of the government officials. We are just hoping we get the compensation as soon as possible without further delay,” he said.
The case has moved more departments than an honest officer would in the government. Initially, it was the home department that had to pay up the displaced family but then it was passed on to the minority welfare department and later to the Hyderabad collectorate. “We have received the case only in 2010 and have been working on it ever since,” said K Niranjan, senior assistant, Hyderabad district collectorate. “The minority welfare department took charge of it and then handed it to us. We have already made the assessment and will send it to the minority welfare department now. After that they will release the compensation amount.”
—COurtesy:TOI