‘If municipality is so serious about its job, why doesn’t it lift garbage from the area?’

Jahangirpuri residents say demolition drive an attempt to drive a wedge between the two communities

A day after the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s “anti-encroachment” drive in the communal violence-hit Jahangirpuri, volunteers and individuals present at the local mosque, whose gates and boundary walls were brought down with bulldozers, questioned the intention behind the drive.

Speaking to The Hindu, people inside the mosque – which was opened to the public only during the prayer hours on Thursday – said the north civic body’s demolition drive seemed to have been carried out with the idea of instilling fear. 

Aalam*(name changed), who grew up in Jahangirpuri’s C-block and spent most of his years volunteering at the mosque, Jama Masjid, said the gates of the mosque had been installed seven years ago. However, not till April 16, when the clashes broke out in the area, were the gates a matter of concern to the civic body.

“We are not allowed to take out processions during Muharram, nor are we allowed to pray outside the mosque on Fridays. Despite cooperating with the authorities at every step, we find ourselves at the receiving end,” Aalam said. 

He added that if the north civic body finds the gates and the boundary walls of the mosque to be encroachments, “what stopped them from removing the encroachments by the temple next door using a bulldozer? The message they’re trying to send across is pretty clear,” said Aalam* (name changed). 

Some other people at the mosque, along with the local residents, also highlighted the poor state of civic amenities in the area - clogged drains, heaps of garbage, crumbling roads - questioning the civic body’s lack of interest in the area till now.

Shiva Shankar, a resident, said the civic body does not regularly lift garbage from the area. Sultan, another local, said bribes have to be paid to get basic civic services.