News Analysis India

Tag: Jahangirpuri demolition

  • Spurt in violence in India part of larger BJP conspiracy, alleges Yechury

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sitaram Yechury on Thursday alleged that communal tactics are being employed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divert people’s attention from the failure of the Central government in multiple spheres including combating rising prices and unemployment.

    Referring to the spate of communal incidents across states, he said that these incidents are part of a larger conspiracy hatched by the Government to destroy the social fabric and constitutional arrangement in India.

    “The ruling party is inciting this violence and hatred. There is a great conspiracy behind this; conspiracy against humanity and the constitution. Attempts are being made to destroy the constitution. We haven’t seen such barbarism in the last 75 years since independence and beyond. Eid and Ramnavmi were celebrated together but this kind of violence, hatred and bloodshed never existed before. It is being executed in a planned manner, which has the backing of the ruling party and the Government,” said Yechury.

    EDITORIAL | Selective demolitions bring no glory to the nation

    He was speaking at a protest jointly organised by the Left parties — CPI (M), CPI, CPI (Marxist–Leninist), Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) — at Jantar Mantar against the ‘targeted’ demolition drive in Jahangirpuri by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) after communal clashes during the Hanuman Jyanti procession.

    The Left parties alleged that the demolition drive was part and parcel of the nefarious design to create communal tension in the area. Hundreds of people participated in the protest.

    Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat and CPI-ML’s politburo member Kavita Krishnan were also present during the protest.

    Yechury said that this (protest) is the beginning. Left parties would hold demonstrations across the country against divisive fascist politics.

    The CPI (M) leader further stated that the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite the violation of laws is surprising.

    “PM doesn’t say a word. The character of the country is being altered. Condemning the violence is one thing but it has to be stopped; prevention is necessary,” said Yechury.

    He also criticized the Government for the continuous rise in petrol and diesel prices. Yechury said that instead of asking the governments of non-BJP governed states, the Central government should scrap central excise duties on petroleum products to control their prices.  

    ALSO READ | ‘Centre devoured Rs 26 lakh crore from fuel prices but they blame states’: Stalin, PTR hit back

    “The BJP and RSS are creating an environment of hate in the name of removing encroachments in Delhi. We have seen this happening in Jahangirpuri and now they are planning to conduct such activities at other locations in Delhi. We are demanding the government to end such practices,” said the secretary of CPI (ML) Delhi Ravi Rai.

  • ‘I will raise difficult issues’: UK PM Boris Johnson on Jahangirpuri controversy

    By PTI

    LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday indicated that he would be raising “difficult issues” when he meets his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Friday.

    The difficult issues being referred to is likely to include the controversial demolition of some properties as part of an “anti-encroachment” drive by the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) in the Jahangirpuri area of north-west Delhi, days after communal clashes in the locality.

    ALSO READ| Jahangirpuri demolition: Amnesty India slams Boris Johnson for inaugurating factory in Gujarat

    Johnson was responding to questions from the UK media during a visit to a new bulldozer factory in Gujarat’s Halol industrial area near Vadodara set up by British multinational JCB. “We always raise the difficult issues, of course we do, but the fact is that India is a country of 1.35 billion people and it is democratic, it’s the world’s largest democracy,” Johnson was quoted in the ‘Guardian’ newspaper as saying in response to questions.

    The factory visit came under fire on social media over JCB equipment being involved in the “anti-encroachment” demolitions in Delhi, which activists have claimed targeted one particular religious community – an issue being considered by the Supreme Court.

    However, Johnson sought to highlight the new Halol plant as a “living, breathing incarnation of the umbilicus between the UK and India”. “This is a world-leading factory – 600,000 diggers a year coming from India, exported from India to 110 countries with British technology,” he said.

    ALSO READ| Fugitive offenders need to be brought to book: EAM ahead of Modi-Johnson talks

    The UK media also raised the issue of JCB chairman Anthony Bamford being a donor to Johnson’s Conservative Party and whether the visit was motivated by that connection. “No, he chose to go to the JCB factory because it is a very good illustration of UK business, working with India and the Indian government to benefit both the UK and India,” Johnson’s official spokesperson told the ‘Guardian’.

  • Jahangirpuri demolition: Amnesty India slams UK PM Boris Johnson for inaugurating factory in Gujarat

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Hitting out at British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for inaugurating a JCB factory in Gujarat a day after municipal corporation in Delhi razed homes in Jahangirpuri using bulldozers, Amnesty India called the move “ignorant”, while also saying his “silence” on the incident was deafening.

    Earlier in the day, Johnson, who is on a two-day visit to India, inaugurated a factory of UK-headquartered heavy equipment maker JCB at Halol in Panchmahals district of Gujarat.

    As Indian authorities clamp down on human rights daily, the UK government must not remain a mute bystander. It must bring human rights to the discussion table. India cannot wait another day for justice.2/4
    — Amnesty India (@AIIndia) April 21, 2022
    This comes a day after bulldozers tore down several concrete and temporary structures close to a mosque in Jahangirpuri as part of an anti-encroachment drive by BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporatin, days after the northwest Delhi neighbourhood was rocked by communal violence.

    The Supreme Court had to intervene twice to stop the drive after it took cognizance of a petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind against the demolition.

    Reacting sharply, Amnesty India tweeted, “In the backdrop of Municipal Corporation of Delhi using JCB bulldozers to raze down shops of Muslims in Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri yesterday, UK Prime Minister’s inauguration of a JCB factory in Gujarat is not only ignorant but his silence on the incident is deafening.”

    It further said the UK government must not remain a mute bystander.

    “It must bring human rights to the discussion table. India cannot wait another day for justice… The demolition continued despite and in defiance of an order by the Supreme Court of India asking the authorities to stay the demolition exercise. The residents of Jahangirpuri were not even given an opportunity to salvage their possessions,” Amnesty India said in another tweet.

    The rights group also called these “brazen attacks” on the right to livelihood and adequate housing of religious minorities in India as an attack on their hopes for a secure future.

  • Supreme Court orders status quo on demolition drive in Jahangirpuri, matter to be heard on April 21

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a status-quo on the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri, Delhi.The matter was mentioned by Senior advocate Dushyant Dave before the bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana.“…The drive is unconstitutional, unauthorized demolition is taking place in Jahangirpuri where riots took place. No notice was served so that reply is served in 10 days,” he said.

    ALSO READ: MCD bulldozers in Jahangirpuri today, cops on alertSenior advocate Kapil Sibal also mentions the plea by Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind seeking directions that residential accommodations or any commercial property cannot be demolished as a punitive measure. The petitioners have said in the plea that the administration in several states is employing bulldozers to raze down the houses of persons suspected to be involved in criminal incidents such as riots.The petitioners have also prayed that police personnel to be provided specialised training in handling communal riots and situations where populations become restive.The court will hear both matters tomorrow.