Skip to main content

Khorigaon demolition: People being 'brutally' evicted, cops 'restricting' food, water

By Ishita Chatterjee, Neelesh Kumar, Manju Menon, Vimal Bhai*

On July 23, the Faridabad Municipal Corporation told the Supreme Court that they have cleared 74 acres out of 150 acres. Despite the affidavit of the Municipal Corporation, the court, on the complaint of various litigants, that the arrangements for living, food etc. have not been made for the people. 
The Apex Court has asked the litigants to send their application to the municipal commissioner of Municipal Corporation of Faridabad. In case of no action, the court will look into it on the next date.
The court has also said that apart from this, any other illegal structure on the forest land should be removed. The court also gave time to the litigants to file their comments on the draft rehabilitation policy prepared by the corporation in the court within one day. which we are sending.
The affidavit of the Faridabad Municipal Corporation filed in the Supreme Court is completely different from the ground reality. The ground reality is that demolitions are ongoing and approximately 1000 more homes have been demolished.
Since July 15 when actual eviction began police brutalities upon residents are ongoing. A few days back one woman attempted suicide by hanging out of despair when her house was demolished and a man named Rajni jumped from his roof. Unobstructed by the police he sustained grievous injuries for which he is now hospitalised in the trauma centre.
Relief workers are also preventing the distribution of food and water and threatening them with arrest. Residents are even being prevented from going to the medical store despite the fact that many have fallen sick, living out in the open during the monsoon rains amid the demolished ruins fo their homes. Even pregnant women are not being provided a place to sit.
Police have even gone so far as to overturn containers in which food is being cooked for being distributed. As Khorigaon resident Pinky says, “Our houses have been demolished and we have been in the rain all night. We have no place to stay, where should we go and what do I do with my small children, with my family? We don’t even have food to eat now.”
Journalist Samit Yadav from the media outlet "The Tsunami" was blocked from filming. His crew members were threatened with an attempt to murder case under Section 307 of the IPC. Their phones were snatched away and their videos of the demolition were deleted, as well as their photographs of the contrast between the working class homes being destroyed and the encroaching hotels which are being given a free pass with no demolitions.
On the orders of the Supreme Court, the people who were humiliated by the Haryana government from Khori village, deprived of health services, living under the shadow of the police are sending letters to the Municipal Corporation. They have written in the letter that till now there is no government system for shelter, food, water, health and defecation for the desolate people.
We urgently demand that all the evicted and affected people be provided the following until proper rehabilitation is done:
  1. Shelter, till complete rehabilitation
  2. Food, milk and dry food for children along with cooked food.
  3. Water, For drinking water and other needs.
  4. Moving Van Toilet (MVT).
  5. Health-related assistance in which doctors, ambulances and hospital assistance are needed.
---
*On behalf of Concern Citizens for Khorigaon and National Alliance of People’s Movements

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Ban Ki-moon, others ask Bangladesh PM to 'protect' Yunus

Counterview Desk  A campaign has been launched to support Bangladesh-based economist, micro-finance guru and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, seeking signatures from citizens across the globe in order to “protect” his work, life and safety.

Electricity sharing opens up new window for India’s eastern neighbourhood engagement

By Sufian Asif* Today, challenges like climate change, pandemics, energy reliance, economic crisis, and many more are concerning us. No nation can overcome these obstacles without the assistance and collaboration of other nations. Most importantly, many of these problems have international repercussions. South Asia is facing much more difficulty when compared to other regions. In South Asia, we have some regional organizations, but they are ineffective.