As Varanasi readies itself for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit on November 30, those who lost their homes earlier this year said that the administration has removed even the rudimentary settlements they had built since then.
On September 25, THE WEEK had reported that a settlement of 50 houses had been demolished in February on the occasion of Modi’s visit to his constituency to unveil the statue of RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The settlement, in the village of Sujabad, housing members of the Dharkar caste, was about 100 metres away from the site of the memorial.
After THE WEEK's report, some local politicians had visited the area and assured help to the displaced families. The matter was also reported to the DM’s office and to the SDM (Sadar), while a complaint was filed with the Prime Minister’s Office, too. Subsequently, the local lekhpal (revenue and land records officer) had visited the site in the first week of November. Buoyed by these developments, the settlers had rebuilt temporary shelters of plastic sheets. However, on November 24, these shelters were once again demolished by the local police.
“We asked where we should go and how we would earn our livelihood. Mishra daroga (constable) said your livelihood is not my concern. I will lose my job if I do not remove you,” said Gulabi, referring to Ashish Mishra, incharge of the Sujabad police post.
“Run away from here. We will give Modiji one application and you will be beaten and removed from here,” said another resident Matharu.
Per a release by the Prime Minister’s Office, Modi will “… dedicate to the nation the six-lane widening project of the Handia (Prayagraj) - Rajatalab (Varanasi) section of National Highway 19. During the tour, the Prime Minister will attend Dev Deepawali, undertake a site visit of Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor Project and also visit the Sarnath Archaeological Site.”
He will land at a helipad in the village of Domari, one of the four villages adopted by him; from where he will proceed to the Ganga Ghat. A railway line runs between Sujabad and Domari.
“We have been living here for generations. Our fathers and grandfathers died here. Where should we now go,” said Gulabi.
The families, with small children and some differently abled members, have been forced to live in the open even as temperatures continue to dip. Their mattresses and quilts, wet with dew, cause a number of them to fall sick.
Reshma, an elderly woman, said, “I bought some vegetables to cook food and Mishra threw them on the ground.”
The families allege that they have not been allowed to cook since their settlements were removed. They also allege misbehaviour by the cops with the women and girls.
Saurabh Singh, chief functionary of the Innervoice Foundation which has been pursuing the case with Pune-based activist Athira Murali, said that the SDM, Pramod Pandey, had called them for a meeting after a telephonic conversation on November 10. “We (a delegation from Sujabad and Innvervoice) waited for him from 9.30am to 12.30pm He neither met us nor did he respond to our phone calls then or thereafter,” Singh said.
On November 11, Singh and Murali wrote to the SDM requesting an expedited rehabilitation for Sujabad’s slum dwellers and also help to link them to the Skill Development Mission so that they could earn a steady livelihood. The Dharkars traditionally make bamboo products such as ladders and baskets. On an average, they earn around Rs 150-250 every day. These meagre earnings plummeted during the lockdown.
This letter was followed by WhatsApp messages sent to the SDM on November 23, 24 and 25 saying, “250 persons including children, elderly, disabled and women are staying off the street after their slums were bulldozed in February this year in this cold winters today. This is a humanitarian crisis and requires immediate attention. It is the greatest violation of human rights.”
The SDM did not respond to calls made by this reporter.
Before these efforts, Singh and Murali had written to Varanasi’s DM on October 4 saying, “We would like to draw your attention towards their plight amidst the pandemic and economic crisis these people are facing. They continue sleeping in the open and cover themselves with plastic sheets whenever it rains. Small kids frequently get drenched and catch fever. Girls and elderly are facing inhuman conditions and living circumstances beyond words. They have aadhar, voter cards but they belong to nowhere. The local authorities fail to help and often try to shoo them away”.
Murali had complained to the PMO asking for help to rehabilitate the ‘voiceless people’ under the PM Awas Yojana on October 4. On October 13, the status of this case was listed as ‘closed’ without there having been any action on the ground.
“We have done all we can to highlight the issue. We do not know why the authorities are so unresponsive. We do not want to turn it into a political issue. We are only requesting the authorities to provide them with some alternative site to live if they cannot be permitted to stay on,” said Murali.
In numerous judgments (eg. Olga Telis versus Bombay Municipal Corporation and Chameli Singh versus State of UP), the courts have held that the right to housing is not limited to a bare shelter but it comes under the wide ambit of Article 21 of the Constitution. Courts have stressed that it is not correct to view dwellers as encroachers or illegal occupants of land. Recently, the Delhi High Court held that when slum dwellers are removed from a settlement, authorities must first conduct a survey and consult them to determine if rehabilitation at the location is feasible or not. If not then, they must be given adequate time to move.
But the PM's own constituency seems to be untouched by these pronouncements.
