Delhi: Razing Hopes And Rising Fears

The homeless are left to fend for themselves after the demolition of over 500 shanties in Delhis Shakur Basti. Amit Bhardwaj reports about the agony and the uncertain future that await the residents.

- Amit Bhardwaj

On that unfortunate day the temperature dipped suddenly. Things could not have got any worse. Amid the remains was a torn tarpaulin sheet. Inside a mother was struggling to keep her three-month-old daughter warm by shielding her from the chilly winds, which continued unabated all day. This is how the father Mohammad Sabeer, 32, described the horrifying night following the demolition of over 500 shanties in Delhi’s Shakur Basti, the land owned by the railways. The girl child, a toddler yet to be named, is currently struggling for her life in the intensive care unit at the Bhagwan Mahavir hospital (Pitampura).

Mohammad Anwar, who suddenly became the focus of all tV channels and newspapers, is the most unfortunate among the ones hit by the demolition. Ruqaiyya, his six-month-old child, is no more. All that Anwar is left with is her memories, her grave and the humongous task of rebuilding his shattered life from scratch. “Yahan kaun apni iccha se reh raha hai, itna paisa nahi ki hum room rent par lekar rahen (Who wants to live here, we do not have the money to even rent a room),” says the daily wage worker. Anwar had sent his two other children, a son and a daughter, and wife Safeena to his in-laws place in Delhi.

Over 3,500 lives were affected in the demolition drive on 12 December which was carried out after giving a day’s notice. The jhuggi residents have Voter ID and Aadhar cards, which show addresses as the ones razed by the railway authorities. For them life has come to a grinding halt.