The pain and helplessness of the street vendors is hard to miss in the violence-hit C-block of New Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. Many who lost their livelihood are staring at a bleak future.
Washique Atique | TwoCircles.net
JAHANGIRPURI, NEW DELHI — The demolition drive conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in the violence-hit C-block of Jahangirpuri on April 20 against ‘illegal encroachments’ has left many vendors without a livelihood.
The demolition drive began on the morning of April 20 after Delhi BJP unit chief Adesh Gupta wrote to North DMC to raze the “illegal constructions of the rioters.” During the drive, several shops and homes in C block Jahangirpuri (mostly belonging to Muslims) were demolished by the NDMC. The drive was called off hours after the Supreme Court ordered a stay on it.
Three days before the demolition drive, communal clashes broke out in the area after a Hindu procession marched past a mosque. The violence left nine people, including seven policemen, injured.
Following the demolition drive on April 20, the area is under heavy deployment of police and the main road is barricaded on both ends.
Shattered livelihoods
Several vendors and small-time shop owners questioned why the demolition drive was taken out without any prior notice stressing that they have “lived and worked in the area for many years without ever facing an issue.”
47-year-old shopkeeper Adil Khan is heartbroken. He told TwoCircles.net that on the day of the demolition drive he was inside his garments shop and was shocked to hear that bulldozers were coming to destroy his shop.
“Half of my shop has been uprooted as you can see,” he said.
Khan said he has nowhere to go as he had invested all his savings in the shop. “My shop has always remained open. We lived peacefully here. After the Shobha Yatra, everything has changed,” he said.
Khan is worried about his daughter’s wedding, scheduled next month. “I suffered a loss of about Rs 2 lakhs. I don’t know if I will be able to manage the expenses of my daughter’s wedding,” he said tearfully.
Khan added that his wife was scared after the incident and did not want to live in the area.
Bablu, a vendor, recalled the incident when NDMC demolished the shops and vending stalls “without any prior notice.”
“My grocery shop has been demolished,” said Bablu, who is married with three kids and is the only earning member of his family.
Bablu said he had no money left to support his family. The markets in this area have mostly remained shut since communal violence broke out.
“It is hard for us to eat twice a day,” Babli said.
“My family members live in terror. They are afraid to step out of the house. My daughter has not gone to school after the violence,” he said.
Similar stories of anger, helplessness and fear are found among the affected residents—who maintain that they have always remained in communal harmony before the incident.
29-year-old Tahir Ahmad ran a fast food corner with his wife. Speaking of the days before the demolition drive, Ahmad said that he would make Rs 500 each day and life was going fine.
Ahmad said that vendors put carts on the roads in every area in the city, “and nothing is done against them,” and questioned why “everything was demolished by the NDMC without prior notice or warning?”
With the loss of livelihood, Ahmad is worried about his children’s education.
“We have two small children, and one of them goes to school. How can I afford it now? I am very anxious,” he said.
Ahmad said that his family was facing a shortage of food supplies. “We don’t know what we will eat and how will the children go to school and how will we pay rent?” he asked.
Ahmad’s only hope is assistance from the government. He expects the government to help people like him in putting their lives together. “We are poor people. The government should compensate us so that we can rebuild our shops and houses,” he added.
While the future looks bleak for these vendors, residents of the area are hoping that things return to normal. On Sunday evening, Hindus and Muslims from the area took out a ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in Jahangirpuri’s C block, calling for peace and communal harmony.
Washique Atique in an intern with TwoCircles.net. He tweets at @khanwasique1