Row after Gkp administration demolishes historical building
GORAKHPUR: Bismil Bhawan, the historical building which once used to be the safe hideout of revolutionists, including Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, was partially razed and its occupant veteran journalist, Shayamanand Srivastava, 87, evicted on Sunday triggering a social media outburst.
While the local administration said the dilapidated structure posed threat to life of its occupant, those opposing the move call it an insult to martyrs.
Sources said the administration plans to shift a government office at the site.
Bismil House, built in 1934, houses an old printing Press from where Shayamand Srivastava had been publishing a weekly newspaper titled ‘Bismil’ since long.
It also houses a library of rare books, photographs of revolutionists and description of martyrs pasted on its walls.
The library had been named after Pandit Bismil by her sister Shastri Devi, a woman revolutionist who lived here for long with her son after Bismil’s execution at Gorakhpur jail in December 19, 1929.
The administration had first asked the occupant to vacate the building on the ground that it was on a nazul (lease) land and had been encroached.
Shyamand Srivastava presented the district magistrate the legal papers, including a court decree which clearly states that he as trustee of Bismil Trust can’t be evicted forcefully.
He also told the DM that the house was allotted to him to run the Bismil Trust in 1971 by its original owner Nahid Hasan,who migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition.
And since then he had been living here to run the trust.
Srivastava, who was forcibly evicted said, “The House is not dilapidated as cited by the administration which resorted to demolishing the house after I presented before the DM all legal papers.”
He also cited a 1970 decree passed by the district court saying that the trustees should not be evicted forcefully without any legal procedure.
“This is a clear contempt of the court,” said Srivastava who had been shifted to a “7 feet by 8 feet” house under Kanshi Ram Awas Yojna.
Dhanajay Shukla, who is also associated with the Bismil Bhawan said, “After eviction, five trucks of materials, including 10,000 books, copies of Bismil newspaper, Letters written by Shastri Devi and press materials have been transported to new location.”
“The land belonged to ‘Sarkari Nuzul’ and they were living here illegally without any lease agreement. So it was evacuated while the building was razed partially as it was in a dilapidated condition,” said joint magistrate Prathamesh Kumar, in whose presence the building was razed.
The DM and the SDM Sadar did not answer the call made to know their versions on the development.