DCW chief visits Shakur Basti, calls it ‘man-made hell’
14 Dec 2015 12:39 AM GMT
Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal on Sunday described the situation at Shakur Basti as “man-made hell” after 1,200 slum dwellings were demolished by the railways to clear “encroachments” and a baby died there, and said it was “nothing short of a criminal” act.
Maliwal, who visited the site in West Delhi, took to Twitter to express her anger and said, “Visited man-made hell in Shakur Basti. 5,000 women and girls now homeless. Plastic sheet on head that is their home also snatched away.”
The DCW chairperson also stressed the need for proper rehabilitation while carrying out such a drive, adding the statement of other injured children is being recorded for further clarification.
“There are so many other children who have got injured. We are recording their statements for further clarification but the most important thing is that how can we execute such a big operation without proper rehabilitation. We will have to talk about rehabilitation. “These are poorest of the poor people of the country. We cannot drive them away who have been settled here since 20 years. It is nothing short of criminal (act),” Maliwal said.
In one of her tweets, she said, “11-year-old girl got 9 stitches on head in stampede during demolition. Unable to give exam tomorrow.”
The demolition drive, which was carried out on Saturday by the Railways for expanding infrastructure, has evoked angry protests from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who wanted murder case to be registered. As many as 1200 slum units were removed in the drive with the Railways saying it was carried out after three notices, the first one with the March 14, 2015 deadline.
A six-month-old baby died in one of the slum units, which the Railways insisted occurred two hours before the demolition started at 12 pm on Saturday.
‘My child would have been alive had officials shown some generosity’
After the Railways razed their shanties, residents of the Shakur Basti slum on Sunday picked up pieces of their lives from debris strewn all over, even as father of the toddler in the midst of a row said his child would have been alive had officials shown generosity and given some time. Mohammad Anwar sat by his wife, who had entered a state of stupor since the couple lost their six-month-old child, whom they had lovingly named Rukaiya. “As the officials came knocking, we started quickly packing our belongings. In the ensuing melee we did not realise when a heap of clothes fell on her which turned out to be fatal,” Anwar said, staring blankly.
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