The demolition drive was stopped after a massive protest by locals and intervention by Okhla MLA, Aam Aadmi Party’s Amanatullah Khan.
Muhammad Raafi | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — A massive demonstration was held in the national capital New Delhi’s Muslim-dominated neighbourhood, Shaheen Bagh on Monday ahead of a demolition drive by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled South-Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The demolition drive was to be conducted at GD Birla Marg near the spot where protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and National Population Register (NPR) were held in 2020.
As soon as the municipal officials and Delhi Police personnel reached the spot with bulldozers, scores of residents and local leaders, including Congress workers, began protesting against the proposed demolition drive.
Demanding to stop the demolition drive, the protestors raised slogans against the civic body and the central government. The police personnel were seen forcefully removing the demonstrators who were protesting in front of the JCB bulldozer. The demonstrators also included women who were removed by the women security personnel.
The local leaders and the demonstrators sat in front of the JCB bulldozer. The locals alleged that they will not let the “demolition” happen. Locals and activists questioned the government’s move and said that the BJP has been ruling the MC for the past 15 years and questioned the timing of the demolition drive. “If the construction was not illegal for the past 15 years, what has changed suddenly?
Shoaib, a local activist working with the National Confederation Of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) told TwoCircles.net that the showroom that the MC was targeting is not illegal.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAO) MLA Amanatullah Khan who also joined the demonstration said that it was vendetta politics. He said that the people have already removed encroachments at my request. “Wazu khana’ [a place for performing ablution) and a toilet outside a mosque here was removed in presence of police, earlier. When there are no encroachments, why have they come here? Just to do politics?”
The demolition drive is part of a month-long exercise announced by South Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Mukesh Suryan on April 25. The Mayor, however, does not have the power to order such action. A similar exercise was conducted in the Tughlakabad area on May 4.
On Monday, Rajpal Singh, the chairperson of the civic body’s central zone standing committee said that workers and officials were ready to begin the drive and that bulldozers have been organized.
Many residents told TwoCircles.net that the MC officials dismantled the “wall of protesters”. Later, Khan spoke to the officials. “Where is the encroachment? I have myself removed all the encroachments 2-3 days ago,” MLA Khan said.
After the intervention of Khan, the JCB bulldozer, and the Municipal Corporation team left the area.
The only ‘illegal encroachment’ i.e. an iron structure or a shuttering in front of a building was manually removed by the people even as a JCB bulldozer stood by during the proposed ‘demolition drive’, eyewitnesses said. The residents said that the presence of Khan averted any face-off between the people and the municipal team.
Speaking to the media, Khan stated that he had himself inspected the whole area and spoken to every official, including the traffic police.
“I had, with my own JCB, removed a toilet that was illegally constructed outside a mosque. This is just vendetta politics. Just tell me where the encroachment is. If still there is an illegal structure. Tell me, I will myself remove it. I am the local MLA,” Amanatullah Khan said.
The residents also said that all the illegal structures in the area were already removed by the people days ago.
A similar drive was conducted in the communal violence-hit Jahangirpuri area of Delhi 19 days ago. During the drive, several illegal structures, including cold drink booths and shops, were demolished affecting the livelihood of many people.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court refused to hear a plea filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seeking to stop the demolition drive in Shaheen Bagh. A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai questioned why a political party had filed the petition and asked the CPI (M) to approach a High Court.
When the CPI (M) urged the court to put a stay on the demolition drive for two days, Justice Rao said: “Not at your behest. If hawkers are encroaching, they will be removed.”
The apex also pulled up the civic body, demanding why it doesn’t undertake anti-encroachment exercises without prior notice and in accordance with the law.
“We are not interfering but when you undertake these activities why don’t you do it as per law? Why don’t you issue notice to them? We are telling you don’t demolish any structures without notice,” the court said.
Muhammad Raafi is a journalist based in New Delhi. He tweets at @MohammadRaafi