Arvind Kejriwal Says No Demolition To Take Place Without Rehabilitation

The demolition of a slum in Shakur Basti on Saturday by the Railways has now snowballed into a political slugfest between AAP, BJP and Congress. On Monday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the demolition site and accused BJP and AAP of politicising the issue.

“It has been decided that from now on, no slum would be demolished anywhere in Delhi”, Kejriwal told the media after meeting Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. AAP MPs will also be protesting at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside the Parliament and they will be joined by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders.

Rahul questioned AAP’s protest and said AAP is in power in Delhi so why are they protesting. He had accused the Delhi government and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre for the razing of the slum and asserted that the law had been clearly broken during the demolition.

The chief minister along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and senior Delhi government officials met Prabhu at Rail Bhawan in New Delhi.

An anti-encroachment demolition drive by the Railways on December 12 at Shakur Basti left a six-month-previous baby lifeless and hundreds of individuals homeless on the coldest night time of the season.

He said, “Instead they should provide help to the people who have been displaced & rehabilitate them”. “The child had died before the demolition drive”.

The Delhi High Court yesterday slammed the railways for its “inhuman” demolition drive in the capital. We will fight for you and won’t let this gross injustice happen to you. I will help you in every way possible.

The NHRC has further said that several affected people held out Aadhar and Voter Identity Cards and other documents, indicating old correspondence about land and land holdings in the Belagaon area.

Kejriwal had earlier hit out at Rahul for accusing the Delhi Government for the demolition and called him a “child”. “In fact, there has been an unfortunate demise of one child”, said the court.

Though the Railways maintained that the toddler died two hours before the demolition drive began along the train tracks at Shakur Basti, the parents of the child blamed the authorities for creating a situation leading to her death. It said the demolition was carried out after three notices, the first one with a March 14, 2015 deadline.