A demolition drive carried out in the name of an anti-encroachment campaign leaves the poor with nothing but dirt and lost hope.
While the Godi Media is celebrating the demolition, calling it “law enforcement”. We all know and should know what is actually happening.
After UP, MP, and Gujarat, the Bulldozer Politics has now entered Delhi
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation claimed that the demolition was part of the anti-encroachment drive that was planned to be carried out on the 20th and 21st of April, in order to clear the roads in order to aid commuters. It is highly questionable to start off the drive with Jahangirpuri, the area recently hit by riots and violence.
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The ‘demolition drive’ came after a letter by Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, who wrote to the NDMC mayor, Raja Iqbal Singh, to demolish ‘illegal’ constructions belonging to the ‘rioters’ in Jahangirpuri. The pattern of the action is very obviously identical to that in UP, MP, and Gujarat where bulldozers were used to demolish properties owned by alleged rioters in violence-hit areas.
But the question is, until and unless the court hears the matter and declares someone guilty, how can the government administration take such a tough and controversial action against those they claim are allegedly involved? If the government takes the delivery of justice into their own hands, then what do we have the judiciary and courts for?
Is this part of the same pattern, or is there really an honest encroachment drive going on in Delhi?
This must not be seen as a matter solely of religion, but most importantly, the poor and the rich. Ravish Kumar (Senior Editor of NDTV) in his Prime Time segment questioned, “As easily as bulldozers go to the homes of the poor or their localities, can they walk in the neighborhoods of the rich?”
“Poor common people run their lives by setting up shops in their own homes. That’s why here you can’t break a house so easily by telling a shop or a house. If you consider this area to be residential, then according to the directions of the Supreme Court, arrangements will also have to be made to resettle in some other place. There are all kinds of rules and regulations that notice has to be given before time, but Mayor Iqbal Singh says that there is no need to give notice. Isn’t this a one-sided and arbitrary India?”, he added.
Where were the opposition leaders?
Rahul Gandhi has tweeted that the bulldozer is an attack on the rights and constitution of the poor and minorities, but where were the Congress and AAP party leaders when the drive was going on?
The AAP party raised their hands, saying that the law and order in Delhi rest with and is taken care of by the centre and that they couldn’t do anything about it.
CPM leader Brinda Karat reached the spot right on time. When the Bulldozer arrived in front of the temple and was ready to remove part of the construction off the road, she jumped in and stood in front of the Bulldozer waving the court’s order in her hand. Hence, the drive stopped there leaving the temple untouched, but a lot of destruction of small shops, houses, and carts and the demolition of a structure of the mosque were already done.
Is it feasible to comprehend politics in the name of encroachment?
While the contagious spread of hatred throughout the country is leading to incidents of riots and violence, the government is adding to the misery of the people by demolishing their homes, leaving them with nothing but lost hope.
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