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Decrying alleged police intimidation in the low-income neighbourhood of Dhobighat in Delhi, the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) on June 2, 2022 warned the South Delhi police against harassing residents.
According to a letter written to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), on May 31 several police personnel came to the neighbourhood, ransacked people’s houses and told residents to vacate them. The police claimed that these houses are to be demolished. However, AICCTU President Sucheta De termed this an imminent illegal demolition.
Residents of the area under the banner of Dhobighat Jhuggi Adhikar Manch petitioned to the Delhi High Court in 2020 regarding their right to live in the area. This was after their area was illegally demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) without due notice.
In their plea, petitioners cited the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) rules that forbid slum demolition without first providing rehabilitation for all residents living there before 2015.
Accordingly, the court on September 9, 2021 gave an order that said, “Till the next date of hearing, no precipitate action shall be taken against the persons who claim protection of the aforesaid judgments.”
Still on Thursday, the AICCTU and residents of Dhobighat had to write to the DCP against such illegal actions by the Jamia Nagar Police station.
“We demand the DDA and Delhi Police stop illegal intimidation of the slum dwellers and abide by the Delhi High Court order. The AICCTU will resist any attempt of demolition of the Dhobighat slum. Biodiversity parks cannot be built over demolished slums of urban poor,” said De.
Further, she pointed out that around 70 percent of the national capital’s buildings are unauthorised. Most of the residents of such areas are the daily-wage workers of the city. She said that their houses are unauthorised because the government has made no housing for them.
“The living situation in these areas is a violation of basic human rights. There is no water, no plumbing. They are citizens of India. They have voter ids. You have to account for them as well,” she said.
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