The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit chief Adarsh Gupta on Thursday said that civic bodies in the city’s eastern and southern parts should also carry out demolition drives to “remove illegal encroachments by Bangladeshis and Rohingyas”.
His comment came a day after the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation razed the entrance gate of the Jahangirpuri mosque and several shops, homes and other structures in the neighbourhood, mostly belonging to Muslims.
The demolition drive undertaken days after the locality was hit by communal violence, went on for more than an hour even after the Supreme Court put a stay on the operation. The demolitions were carried out after Gupta had written to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to raze the “illegal constructions of rioters’’ in Jahangirpuri.
At a press conference on Thursday, Gupta said that after the demolitions in Jahangirpuri, the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Communists have allied to protect the “Bangladeshis and Rohingyas”.
“First, the Congress allowed Rohingya migrants and Bangladeshis to settle,” he said. “Now, the AAP is giving them free ration, electricity and water, and is giving money to them.”
Meanwhile earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court put a halt for two weeks on the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri.
The judges said that they will take a “serious view of the demolitions” that continued despite the court orders. They asked authorities to maintain the status quo and issued notice to all the petitioners in the case.
Members of Hindu and Muslim communities had clashed during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in North West Delhi’s Jahangirpuri on April 16. Eight policemen and a civilian were injured in the violence.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!