Activist’s home bulldozed

The protests over the remarks turned violent last week with two teenagers killed and at least 30 wounded. Hundreds of protesters were arrested.

Bulldozers on Sunday tore down Fatima’s home in the city of Prayagraj, ripping through balconies and fences as dozens of riot police stood guard. The family’s belongings were left strewn in the rubble, including a poster that read: ‘‘When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.’’

‘‘I feel like this is a vendetta, not just against me and my politics, or my father and his politics, but our whole family,’’ Fatima told Article14, an Indian publication.

Authorities in Uttar Pradesh, which is Bjp-ruled, claimed Fatima’s father, a local politician in a Muslim party, had organised demonstrations over the alleged blasphemy.

They claimed that a destruction notice had been issued to the family last month as their home had been constructed illegally. Fatima said they only heard about the demolition after the protest and the backdated notice was forged. She also said the family had not taken part in protests last Friday.

‘‘We had been paying our house taxes for around 20 years and not once did we receive any intimation by any development authorities of Allahabad that our house is illegal. Why were they even taking our taxes if it was an illegal house?’’ she said.

Yogi Adatyanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and a hardline Hindu monk, had ordered the demolition of ‘‘illegally’’ constructed homes of those involved in the protest, according to a BJP spokesperson.

At least two other houses have been demolished. Adatayanath has gained the nickname of ‘‘bulldozer baba’’ (bulldozer monk) for the regular destruction of the houses of government critics, a policy since copied by other Indian states.

In April, buildings belonging to Muslims in Delhi, Madhya

Pradesh and Gujarat were destroyed after intercommunal violence.

‘‘I felt paralysed when it happened,’’ Fatima said on hearing her home would be torn down.

‘‘I didn’t know what to do or whom to call. It felt like a nightmare.’’

A former chief justice in Prayagraj told the Indian Express newspaper that the demolition of Fatima’s house was ‘‘totally illegal’’.

At least 230 alleged rioters have also been arrested in Uttar

Pradesh since Friday, including Fatima’s mother, father and sister.

The BJP dismissed Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal over the remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, which triggered a backlash from Muslim nations around the world.

There were protests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh while nations in the Middle East, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, demanded an apology from India.

Stung by the potential damage to its relation with allies in the Gulf, the BJP has filed charges against Sharma and Jindal for ‘‘inciting hatred’’. – Telegraph Group

Ukrainian troops struggled to repel Russian advances in the country’s Donbas region on Monday, local time, as Kremlin forces pushed into areas key to Moscow’s goal of cementing its control of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military said that Ukrainian fighters were forced to withdraw from central Sievierodonetsk, a strategic city in the Luhansk region, marking a ‘‘partial success’’ for Russia. Russian forces now control about three-quarters of the city, officials said, a worrying sign as Kyiv struggles to regain the battlefield advantage it enjoyed in the initial months after President Vladimir Putin’s February 24 invasion.

Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, said that local forces continued to put up a fierce defence in Sievierodonetsk but acknowledged that Russian troops control the city centre.

US officials believe Sievierodonetsk could fall within days, paving the way for Russia to complete its control of Luhansk, one of two governates in the Donbas region, in the coming weeks. If that occurs, it would represent a major turnaround for Moscow after the early months of the war, when Russian troops failed to capture Kyiv and other key areas of central Ukraine.

Russian forces continued their advance as Western nations debate the future shape of Nato ahead of a meeting of alliance leaders on June 29.

While Nato officials had expected the membership applications of Finland and Sweden – a reflection of how Putin’s war has altered the security outlook in Europe – to proceed quickly, objections from member Turkey have thrown that notion into doubt.

Speaking after talks in Brussels on Monday, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that Sweden was working to address Turkey’s concerns, which involve the Nordic nations’ stance on arms sales to Turkey and their treatment of individuals Ankara says are part of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). – Washington Post