Wakeel was a member of the team of rat-hole miners that saved 41 people who were trapped in Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel in November of last year. For Hassan, who was one of the people who had put their lives in danger to perform an anxious procedure in the half collapsed tunnel, it came as a shock.
According to Hassan, the DDA destroyed his home without informing him first. The DDA justified its move by stating that it could not permit unlawful construction in its development areas or encroachment onto its land. Additionally, the authorities asserted that Hassan had turned down their offer to move him and his family into a temporary residence.
Source: National Herald
Barely three months after being hailed as a hero, Hassan is again the victim of official intransigence. Given that the DDA falls under the purview of the Centre, the BJP and opposition parties have engaged in a verbal sparring match as a result of the sour dispute.
The Delhi government, the AAP, has frequently charged that the BJP-led Centre is deliberately focusing on slum areas for political ends. The increasing number of incursions into the nation’s capital exposes the incompetence of the government. Furthermore, people who live on encroached land are encouraged by political favour to rebuild their homes after they have been demolished.
Source: India Today
It is also concerning when there is a selective demolition strategy applied, with the majority of the demolitions occurring in minority-dominated areas. Following communal violence during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, the Supreme Court halted a demolition drive in April 2022. These activities always smell like an effort to punish those who have wronged members of a certain group when due process is not followed. When officials take retaliatory, selective action, they should be held accountable.
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