Jahangirpuri Demolitions: CPI(M)’s Brinda Karat Blocks Bulldozer; AAP Calls for Razing BJP HQ

New Delhi: There was high drama in Jahangirpuri  on Wednesday morning as bulldozers landed up early to raze houses as part of the “anti-encroachment”  drive by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which is run by the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

In the sweltering heat, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat  was seen blocking the bulldozer from moving ahead, waving the copy of the Supreme Court’s order to maintain status quo on the demolitions, as NDMC continued to raze homes and shops despite the SC order.

 “I have come here because the Supreme Court had given a status quo order at 10.45 am. Our senior lawyer was present in the court and I have the court order. I am here to meet officers and demand the implementation of Supreme Court orders. I am here to stop the bulldozer which is disregarding the law and the Supreme Court order,” Karat told the media.  

Citing the example of several BJP-ruled states, Karat said the demolition drive had nothing to do with “encroachments” and was clearly communal in nature, adding that it was unconstitutional.

CPI(M) Leader Brinda Karat stood in front of a JCB to halt demolition drive in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri at 12.10 pm. Drive continued till 12.15 pm despite SC asking MCD to maintain status quo around 11 am. Action a few days after communal clashes on 16 April. @TheQuint @QuintHindi pic.twitter.com/JLH8RcvprZ

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Incidentally, no other political party leader, including of the ruling Aam Aadmi party (AAP), was seen in the area, which houses the poorest of the poor among others from both the Hindu and Muslim communities and as the scene of communal violence.

However, later, in a statement, AAP lashed out BJP and said razing the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP headquarters using bulldozers would free the country from communal violence and riots forever.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party alleged that it was the BJP that had engineered clashes between two communities in Jahangirpuri during a Hanuman Jayanti procession last week as well as other such incidents of violence in various parts of the country during Ram Navami.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, too, attacked the government over the use of bulldozers in violence-hit areas of Delhi and Madhya Pradesh and alleged that this was a demolition of India's constitutional values and targeted against the poor and minorities.

He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to switch off "bulldozers of hate" and switch on power plants, while highlighting the shortage of coal in the country due to which power plants were being shut down.

"This is a demolition of India's constitutional values. This is state-sponsored targeting of poor and minorities. BJP must bulldoze the hatred in their hearts instead," Gandhi said on Twitter, while sharing a picture of a speeding bulldozer on one side and the Constitution on the other.

In Delhi, the AAP alleged that with the sole motive of triggering communal violence and riots, BJP got Rohingyas and Bangladeshis "illegally" settled in different parts of the country over the past eight years.

"The BJP is saying violence, riots and hooliganism will stop by running bulldozers and removing encroachments. But actually, the BJP itself is engineering hooliganism, violence and riots not just in Delhi, but across the country," AAP leader Atishi said in a video message.

She alleged that Shah and the BJP were behind all the recent incidents of communal violence in various parts of the country during Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami celebrations.

"Bulldozers should be run on the BJP headquarters and on the residence of Amit Shah. After this, riots will not happen in this country," the Kalkaji MLA said.

AAP's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said BJP should disclose where all it got Rohingyas and Bangladeshis settled illegally.

"We believe that the BJP has got them settled at various places with the sole motive of engineering riots, using them," the AAP MLA added.

Earlier, AAP leader Amanatullah Khan alleged that the NDMC had scheduled the anti-encroachment drive in Jahangirpuri as Shah and the BJP want to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of Delhi.

In a video message on Twitter, the Okhla MLA said the demolition of houses belonging to members of "a particular community" only to "harass" them during the holy month of Ramzan on the pretext of an anti-encroachment drive will further spoil the atmosphere in the area.

(With inputs from PTI)