Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 20: Heavy police and paramilitary forces were deployed in violence-hit Jahangirpuri on Wednesday as the BJP-controlled North Delhi Municipal Corporation suddenly launched an anti-encroachment drive in the locality mainly targeting the Mosque, which was the centre of last week’s communal clashes, and its surrounding areas.
Even as the Supreme Court ordered stopping the demolition drive immediately and maintain status quo till the disposal of a petition challenging the rush of the bulldozers without any notice to the occupants, the drive continued for a couple of hours more forcing the apex court to intervene again asking the court registrar to arrange for physically handing over the status quo order.
The mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, though called it a “routine exercise,” did not hide the fact that the drive was launched after Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the mayor, asking him to identify illegal constructions by “rioters” and demolish them. The timings of the demolition drive and the set pattern following the similar exercises carried out by the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in the riot-affected areas prompted a senior Supreme Court advocate to rush to the Chief Justice of India to raise questions about the political motives behind the demolition move.
Shortly after bulldozers started razing shops and other structures in the violence-hit area, advocate Dushyant Dave submitted a petition on behalf of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and brought up the matter during mentioning hours when cases that require urgent attention are brought to the notice of the CJI. “Maintain status quo. List it before appropriate bench tomorrow,” ordered the CJI N V Ramana immediately. But even after the court’s order, the demolition continued for nearly two hours. The mayor said they had yet to receive the order and would continue their job of removing illegal structures until they did.
As an excavator went on to tear down the gates of the mosque and shops near it amid rising tension in the area, lawyer Dave rushed to the CJI again and Ramana directed that the court order “must be communicated immediately to officials.” Dave told the court that “this is completely unauthorised, unconstitutional, demolition which is now ordered in Delhi, in Jahangirpuri area, where allegedly riots took place.”
Under the Municipal Acts, notice has to be given before carrying out the demolitions, he said, adding that the drive in Jahangirpuri was being done without issuing any notice.
“Without no notice to anyone, under the Municipal Corporation Act at least 5 to 15 days’ notice is required, they have a right to appeal against that…,” said Dave. He pointed out that while the demolition was planned to start at 2 pm, it had started at 9 am “knowing that we are going to mention it”.
With reports of the demolition emerging despite the SC order, Dave once again rushed to the CJI a little after 12 pm raising this.
Around the same time, senior CPM leader Brinda Karat reached the area with a physical copy of the order. As the demolition stopped, she said: “We appeal to Jahangirpuri residents to maintain peace.” But by the time the bulldozers were halted, 20 shops and structures outside the mosque had been razed.
On Wednesday morning, 14 teams from the Municipal Corporation of North Delhi carried out the operation using nine bulldozers which rolled into the locality and started razing shops and other structures in the presence of some 400 Delhi police and over 1,500 para-military forces.
Petitioners told the Supreme Court that this action followed a familiar pattern like in states such as UP and MP where, after communal clashes, one community was targeted with demolitions.
Police have been keeping vigil in Jahangirpuri since Saturday’s communal clash that broke out when a Hanuman Jayanti procession that did not have permission took a route alongside a mosque. Nine people, including eight policemen, were injured in the violence during which two groups threw stones at each other and shots were also fired.
About 25 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence. Five of them have been charged under the National Security Act, which allows detention up to a year without any charge.
Several shops, construction in front of buildings, handcarts and even the outer gate of the mosque that was at the centre of last week’s violence were demolished by the civic excavators. Opposition leaders have slammed the BJP as the BJP-headed civic body carried out the demolition. While Congress MP Rahul Gandhi called it the “demolition of India’s constitutional values” and “state-sponsored targeting of poor & minorities”, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha directly accused Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating communal riots and asked for his home to be demolished.
“Only temporary structures were removed,” Iqbal Singh claimed. He said his team removed encroachment by scrap dealers on public land. “The roads will be cleared and people are happy. It is routine work with no agenda. People are very happy, people are supporting us,” he said.
Asked similar anti-encroachment drive would be carried out in other parts of the national capital, Singh said, “We want to tell the people of the whole of Delhi, wherever there is any illegal encroachment, please remove them yourself. Iske baad unhi logon ka number hai (it will be their turn next) After this, it is their turn,” Singh said.
Iqbal Singh claimed that the anti-encroachment drive had nothing to do with Saturday’s violence. He, however, evaded questions about whether the civic body informed the police about the action before or after Saturday’s violence. “I don’t have any idea. They must have informed the cops as part of routine procedure,” Singh claimed. He also avoided a direct response to allegations that no show cause notice was issued before the drive to remove illegal structures. “The MCD’s job is to clear encroachments. MCD is a government office. For us everyone is the same,” he said.
In its plea, the Jamiat contended that “NDMC (North Delhi Municipal Corporation) carrying out such acts is malafide and against the process of law as has been established by the different Statutes as well as this Court of law.” It also said “the actions…are arbitrary and illegal as the people whose houses or establishments will be demolished have not been served any notice by the authorities” and “cause irreparable harm to the residents of the area who have been residing there for more than 3 decades and it is their only source of livelihood.”
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal told the court that there was also a petition pending about similar demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. He urged the court to list the petition also on Thursday. The court agreed to the request.
The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday attacked the government over the use of bulldozers in violence-hit areas of Delhi and MP and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to switch off “bulldozers of hate” and switch on power plants. “Eight years of big talk has resulted in India having only 8 days of coal stocks,” he said on Twitter. “Modi ji, stagflation is looming. Power cuts will crush small industries, leading to more job losses. “Switch off the bulldozers of hate and switch on the power plants,” he said.