Central agencies trying to bulldoze Pakistani Hindu refugees' houses in Delhi, alleges AAP

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday slammed Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena and the BJP for the demolition drives being carried out in the national capital and said it would not allow bulldozing of Pakistani Hindu refugees' homes in north Delhi's Majnu Ka Tila area.

A day earlier, locals claimed that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had issued notices to Hindu refugees from Pakistan, who live near Gurdwara Majnu Ka Tila on the Yamuna floodplain, to vacate the place.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP-led Centre's DDA was targeting thousands of Hindu refugees from Pakistan.

"Central government agencies, be it DDA, Land and Development Office (L&DO), the Railways or the Archaeological Survey of India, are continuously involved in demolishing the homes of people living in Delhi's slums."

"In this, the biggest role has been played by the DDA and L&DO, which come directly under the jurisdiction of the Delhi LG," he claimed.

There was no immediate reaction from the LG's office over the AAP's charges.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said it was regrettable that AAP leaders were involved in 'dirty politics' over the judicial orders of the Nation Green Tribunal evicting Pakistani Hindu refugees living on the Yamuna floodplain.

He said that as soon as leaders of the refugees apprised the BJP about the eviction notice late last night, they immediately took up the matter with the Lt Governor and got eviction scheduled for Thursday stalled.

The Lt Governor has assured them that the Hindu Refugees will not be evicted without an alternative accommodation, he said. The Delhi BJP said its unit in Chandni Chowk has been offering support to the refugees in their hour of need.

At the press conference, Bharadwaj alleged that Pakistani Hindu refugees living in the Majnu Ka Tila area have been told to vacate the place and DDA is going to bulldoze their homes.

"I want to know what enmity the LG has with the poor people living in slums in different parts of Delhi," he said.

The minister alleged that the BJP has nothing to do with Hindus.

"If the BJP is pro-Hindu, the BJP-led Central government should immediately stop the order to bulldoze the homes of these thousands of Hindu refugees who have been living near Majnu Ka Tilla for the past 13 years and take strict action against all officials who conspired to demolish the houses," Bharadwaj said.

He alleged that a similar notice for demolition had been issued for a slum settlement in the RK Puram area. "I want to ask the L-G whether or not he knows about all these matters," Bharadwaj said.

The minister claimed that the LG would deny having information about the matter and accuse the AAP of lying. "The LG is the chairman of DDA, and if he is not aware of these things, then he should immediately suspend the chief engineer of DDA," he said.

In November 2019, the NGT, while hearing a matter regarding the encroachment of the Yamuna floodplain by slum dwellers near Majnu Ka Tila Gurdwara, directed the DDA and the Delhi government to clear the illegal occupation.

The NGT through an order on January 29 this year imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the DDA and directed it to submit an action-taken report in the matter of encroachment removal within four weeks.

In another press conference, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey alleged that the Union government 'hates' slum dwellers and the BJP leaders consider these settlements to be an 'ugly spot' in Delhi.

"Central agencies are demolishing slums at the behest of the BJP and now their bulldozers have reached Hindu refugees living in Majnu Ka Tila. Hundreds of Hindu refugees who came here after suffering atrocities in Pakistan are once again being deprived of roofs over their heads."

"If the BJP government at the Centre sends bulldozers to demolish slums, we will lie down in front of those but will not allow them to be demolished," he said.

AAP MLA Somnath Bharti claimed that people living in the slums of RK Puram Sector-12 have been issued notices and instructed to vacate the area within seven days.

"If slums of R K Puram are demolished on the orders of the BJP-led central government, I will be found lying in front of the bulldozer. During elections, the BJP promises to provide houses where there are slums and as soon as elections are over, their promises prove to be mere words," he said.