'Bulldozing' halts in Jahangirpuri hours after SC order

Despite the apex court order of status quo till it hears the petition on Thursday, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) continued its drive for some time

In a repeat of scenes in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, a party-led Delhi civic body on Wednesday rode bulldozers rode into violence-hit Jahangirpuri in the national capital in police presence to clear illegal constructions but had to halt it after the Supreme Court intervened and ordered status quo.

Despite the apex court order of status quo till it hears the petition on Thursday, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) continued its drive for around 90 minutes citing that it has not received any order.

As the court was informed, the Supreme Court asked the Registrar or Secretary-General to inform the civic authorities about its order, following which the drive was halted but not before razing several structures. Bulldozers were seen demolishing structures near a mosque in Jahangirpuri's C Block where violence had erupted on April 16.

In Pics | Demolition drive in violence-hit Jahangirpuri

"We have stopped the anti-encroachment drive," Raja Iqbal Singh, North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor, said.

The Opposition found fault with the civic body's action and targeted the ruling BJP with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling it "a demolition of India's constitutional values" and a "state-sponsored targeting of poor and minorities". While he said the BJP must "bulldoze the hatred in their hearts instead", AAP leaders Atishi and Raghav Chadha called for running bulldozers at BJP headquarters to stop riots in the country.

The anti-encroachment drive, which saw the razing of several “illegal” structures, came a day after Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote to the party-ruled NDMC to identify illegal constructions of "rioters" in Jahangirpuri and demolish them using bulldozers. The locality had witnessed violence last Saturday during a Hanuman Jayanti procession organised by VHP and Bajrang Dal, which the police said had no permission.

The drive-in a violence-hit area was a replication of what the civic bodies did in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where Ram Navami processions had led to violence.

Read | When will bulldozers demolish Chinese encroachments? asks Congress

The drive-in Jahangirpuri had started at around 10 AM amid a large posse of security personnel being deployed in the area. Bulldozers entered the locality and were seen razing illegal constructions like walls, shops and temporary structures.

In the run-up to the drive, security personnel carried out a flag march in the area. A drone was also deployed to monitor the situation.

On Tuesday, the NDMC had written to police seeking 400 police personnel, including women personnel, for "maintaining law and order during encroachment removal action on April 20 and 21". The Mayor said they wanted to start the drive on Tuesday itself but police did not make personnel available.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, who visited the locality, said, "At 10:45 am, the SC gave the order to maintain the status quo on the demolition drive...The law and the constitution have been bulldozed by illegal demolitions. At least the Supreme Court and its order should not be bulldozed."

Delhi AAP MLA Aatishi said riots are taking place across the country while accusing the BJP of being behind all such incidents. "I can say with guarantee, if we run bulldozers on the BJP headquarters, all these riots will end."

Congress tweeted, "riding on the bulldozer of hate, the ruling BJP is totally disturbed. These people have fallen to this low level only to divert the attention of the people from the issues of inflation and unemployment. That is why it is necessary to raise our voice against this hatred."

In a separate tweet, Rahul also asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to switch off "bulldozers of hate" and switch on power plants.

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