Perspectives

that many were municipal sweepers, ragpickers and garbage recyclers and thus ‘Better to Have Died actively involved in keeping the city clean). Protests against the evictions by activists Than to Live Like This’ and legislators were branded as part of a Congress-I conspiracy to change the de- mographics of Delhi by nurturing a vote- Women and Evictions in Delhi bank of illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh. Much was made of the pres- sure being placed on civic services by When in 2004 the government of Delhi announced its plan to turn unauthorised settlements, in flagrant dis- 100 acres on the banks of the Yamuna into a promenade, the land regard of the fact that there were no civic was occupied by the Yamuna Pushta “unauthorised” settlement and services in these settlements. The dismal was home to over 35,000 working class families. The subsequent record of the MCD in collecting rates and evictions and forced relocations have destroyed people’s lives by taxes from middle class colonies, which nevertheless enjoyed continued civic ser- removing them from their areas of work, cutting off their social vices, and the existence of a well-oiled networks and destroying the housing and infrastructure they had system where city officials collected lakhs built with their life’s savings. It is ironic that the courts have not of rupees as “fees” from unauthorised held government bodies accountable for their failure to provide settlements for provision of electricity and affordable and adequate housing for the poor, even as they have water, were both ignored. The pre-eviction campaign, enthusias- chastised them for slum creation, instead of slum clearance. tically supported by a large section of the print media effectively tapped into exist- KALYANI MENON-SEN from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal. A ing class and communal biases and saw significant proportion were construction the emergence of an alliance between the n January 2004, the tourism ministry workers, who had been brought to Delhi MCD, local politicians with interests in of the government of Delhi announced by contractors during the Asian Games the land market and residents of affluent Iits plan of developing a 100 acres strip and had settled in Pushta. There were also colonies. They welcomed the evictions as of land on the banks of the river Yamuna, several families, who made their living a move that would not only “clean up” the into a riverside promenade with parks and from small enterprises – waste recycling, Yamuna and its banks, but would also fountains which would be marketed as a vending of food and daily necessities, and reduce crime and ease the pressure on major tourist attraction. The government ration shops. A smaller number, probably civic services. of Delhi and the Municipal Corporation the oldest inhabitants of this area, were Despite desperate efforts by the resi- of Delhi (MCD), both facing strictures by agriculturists engaged in growing veg- dents, campaigns by NGOs and commu- the Supreme Court for their failure to deal etables on the dry riverbed. nity groups and appeals to the courts, the with the pollution of the river, were also The lead-up to the evictions – the period so-called “voluntary relocation partners in the enterprise to “clean up” the when petitions and prayers for a stay on programme” went ahead. In February and banks of the Yamuna. According to the the evictions were being presented before April 2004, homes and community build- MCD, sewage from unauthorised infor- and rejected by the MCD, the courts, even ings along the banks of the Yamuna were mal settlements along the river bank was the president – saw a crystallisation of razed to the ground in 24-hour operations. the major cause of pollution of the opinion among the middle and affluent The Supreme Court, which had dismissed Yamuna.1 classes in the city, the result of a focused a petition asking for the stay of the evic- At the time this plan was unveiled, this campaign to demonise those who lived in tion until rehabilitation, could be land was occupied by the Yamuna Pushta ‘jhuggi-jhopdi’ colonies. Long-standing assured with the remark that this would “unauthorised” settlement, home to over myths were resurrected and given official be like a reward for breaking the law, and 35,000 working class families – more than sanction by senior members of the ruling refused to act even to stop the violence 1,50,000 people – who had been occupy- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the centre. that ensued. ing this land for over three decades. About The residents of Pushta were painted as The claim that families had volunteered 70 per cent of the population was Muslim. illegal migrants from Bangladesh (despite to relocate is not borne out by the facts. Although no statistics are available, re- the fact that the majority were registered Residents, many of whom could not be- searchers and activists confirm that the as voters and had ration cards), as beggars lieve that a forced eviction could take majority of people were daily wage workers and petty criminals (despite the fact that place in the face of protests, were taken – headloaders, rickshaw-pullers, domes- they were almost all entrepreneurs or unawares. They had not even removed tic workers, handcart-pullers and workers in the informal sector), as people their belongings and possessions from their ragpickers who had migrated to Delhi who made the city dirty (despite the fact homes when the demolition started. In

Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006 1969 many cases, children and old people were at Rs 5,000-7,000 in Bawana, Holambi Even though Haleema’s family is en- still inside when the houses were demol- Kalan, Madanpur Khadar, and other re- titled to a larger 18 square metre plot as ished. Fatima, now living in the Bawana settlement colonies in Delhi. These rates they had lived in Pushta for more than two Resettlement Colony, told us how her one- were beyond the capacity of many old- decades, they could not manage to get it year-old child was sleeping in her house time residents of Pushta who were thus because they did not have a “VP Singh when it was being demolished. Fatima left out of the resettlement scheme. Many ration card”. For Haleema, the eviction nearly lost her life in trying to save her others were excluded on the grounds of was a twofold blow – the destruction of child. The police cordoned off the area and being Bangladeshis, who had managed her house and belongings as well as the men who rushed back from work when to get false documents. Rafiya, who now loss of employment and income. Bawana they heard that the demolitions had started lives in Bawana Resettlement Colony, is more than 50 km away from the homes were not allowed in to save their families. was charged with being a Bangladeshi and in Geeta colony, where she was doing Those who resisted were mercilessly beaten was denied a plot. Ironically, her mother domestic work – it is impossible for her and chased away by the police. Women was allotted a plot in Bawana where Rafiya to commute there from so far away. There and children were not spared and many now lives with her husband and children. are no jobs in isolated Bawana, and there were seriously injured. The ruined colony The evictions and forced relocations is no way for her to make up the loss of was then set on fire as residents tried to destroyed people’s lives by removing them her monthly income of Rs 2,000. One of save their belongings. The violence con- from their areas of work, cutting off their her employers even offered her accommo- tinued long after the demolitions, with social networks and destroying the hous- dation, but she could not accept because police attacks on people as they tried to ing and infrastructure they had built up she has to look after her old husband and retrieve their belongings or scavenge for with their life’s savings. young grand-daughter. building materials in the ruins of their Haleema’s older son, a rickshaw driver, homes. There were at least five deaths, Haleema’s Story3 would need to spend Rs 20 if he were to including two suicides. live in Bawana and take a bus to Delhi each Resettlement plots were assigned only We met Haleema in May 2004, a few day. Like many others, he has had to rent to those who could provide proof of resi- weeks after the evictions. This is an extract a ‘jhuggi’ in Delhi, leaving his daughter dence in the form of a ration card or a voter from our record of our conversation in Haleema’s care. He gives Haleema identity card. Those who had documentary with her. around Rs 200 a week – this is now the proof that they had been living in Pushta Haleema lives with her husband and total income of the family. They are sur- before 1990 were eligible for an 18 square grand-daughter in Bawana. The family had viving only by paring down their expenses metre plot in the resettlement area, while migrated from Bhagalpur to Delhi 25 years to the barest minimum. The money is spent those who had been living there since 1990 ago. By the time of the eviction, they had almost entirely on food. Haleema’s hus- and before 1998 were eligible for a plot built a brick house with three rooms. In band goes out to collect firewood – they of 12.5 square metres. A survey conducted Bawana, they have been allotted a 12.5 cannot afford to buy any other fuel. The by the Delhi Development Authority square metre plot for which they had to use of the meagre and filthy toilet in their (DDA) before the evictions recorded only pay Rs 2,000 more than the official price block is an unavoidable expense. The 16,000 “genuine claimants” for plots, while of Rs 5,000. They have set up a small shack contractor charges Rs 2 for every visit to newspapers reported around 35,000 fami- with tattered bamboo mats on their tiny the toilet, and Rs 5 if clothes are washed lies in residence, indicating that less than plot. “Gareebon ko jangal mein phenk diya in the bathroom. He has removed the latches 50 per cent of the people living in Pushta hai’ Haleema told us. on the doors of the toilet cubicles and were considered eligible for relocation. Haleema recalls the hardships that forced bathrooms, and there is no privacy. Many people had lost their documents her family to leave the village and migrate The eviction has broken not only in the fires that regularly broke out in to Delhi. Haleema’s house, but her family too. Pushta in the period immediately prior to After two years of marriage, my farmer Haleema’s son and his wife live in Delhi. the eviction, some of which were delib- husband and I were on the verge of Their six- year old daughter Roshni misses erately caused in attempts to force people starvation in the village and came to Delhi the city and her parents, and whines per- to move out. Those who wanted to try and to find work. My husband used to make sistently, “Dilli jana hai”. She is listless get duplicate documents did not get enough and sell puffed rice and I worked in five and does not eat. She has not been attend- time to do so. Kaleemun Nisha, now living houses. We could not afford to educate ing school – the nearest school is in Bawana in Sherpur, told researchers that her ration our children – only our older son went to village, miles away, and she cannot walk card had been burned in an earlier fire. Her school for a few years in Delhi. Over the there in the scorching heat. There is a new ration card was dated 1999 and made 25 years in Pushta, we were able to save group of boys from an NGO who tempt her ineligible for resettlement. Based on and make a house with three rooms. the children with sweets, rounding them data from the census, the DDA, newspa- When finally we were able to afford food up and teaching them in the open. A primary pers, and anecdotal figures, the Hazards and water and a decent life, we were school is under construction in the resettle- evicted and thrown here. Our house was Centre estimates that 27,000 families demolished with only a day’s notice – the ment colony and Haleema is waiting for (1,35,000 people) were evicted, of which police told us just the day before that the the school to open and teachers to be only 6,000 families were resettled. The demolition would begin the next morning, recruited, so that Roshni can enrol again. rest – over 1 lakh people – were left to which hardly gave us any time to empty She has already missed a year of school. fend for themselves.2 our house of all our belongings. We lost Haleema feels alone because the social Plots allotted through the so-called our pucca house and everything we had and community life she had in Pushta has voluntary relocation scheme were priced earned with our sweat and toil of 25 years. also been disrupted. The closely-knit

1970 Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006 Muslim community has been split up and Rs 20 a day and a journey of at least an buses are filled to capacity. People who scattered around the resettlement area. In hour each way. need to reach their workplaces on time are this new set-up, the neighbourhoods are The preferred option for most married forced to take the private bus and pay a mixed and Haleema does not feel the same women is home-based work. There are a flat rate of Rs 20 each way against the sense of mutuality and collectivity that she few contractors who distribute beads for lower fares charged by the DTC. shared with her previous neighbours. making cheap costume jewellery at piece The fall in income has been steepest for Relations between the inhabitants of the rates. The work is erratic and the volume the comparatively better-off families of resettlement area and the people of Bawana is limited, covering only a few families petty traders and shopkeepers. In Pushta village are also not cordial. The jats of who used to do this work previously while their grocery shops, fish and vegetable Bawana consider the newcomers to be in Pushta. Some women who did not have carts, food shops, tea stalls and cigarette encroachers in their area. There have been a previous relationship with the contractor kiosks did brisk business. Although fig- several incidents of men from the village and wanted to take on bead work were told ures are not usually quoted, only a few coming and creating trouble by harassing by him that they would be paid only when of these families had built up a strong and threatening people. Haleema says that they completed a year of working for him. enough asset base to enable them to set a big fight broke out one day when the In any case, payments are low (about Rs up shop again in the resettlement colony. Bawana men came and stole Rs 400 from 20 for 100-bead bracelets) and the cost of Many have reverted to wage labour, a shopkeeper. The police are of no help lost or wasted materials is deducted from with the men plying rickshaws or auto- in such cases. In fact, Haleema says that the wages. The average income reported rickshaws and the women travelling as the police chase off the ‘basti’ people when from bead work is Rs 200-300 per month. far as Rohini to work in middle class homes. they see them sitting by the roadside or At the time of the eviction, the Bawana In the initial months after the eviction, in the shade, and often try to extort money Industrial Area had less than 10 functional those who set up shops hardly had any from them on some pretext. units. Today, according to the Delhi State customers apart from the MCD staff and The summer heat is scorching, but the Industrial Development Corporation, a few visitors from NGOs. Today, there authorities still have not given permission there are 400 units. A few of the younger are a number of pucca shops in the colony, to build pucca structures. Haleema’s fan women and girls have managed to find but many of these are owned by people was lost in the eviction and there are no work in these factories. Jayanti, who from Bawana village, who have bought out trees or bushes in the area to provide relief works in a plastic moulding unit, told the original allottees, who are said to have from the heat. As her granddaughter lay us that the work is hard and requires them gone back to Delhi or their native villages. with her head on her lap and murmured to stand for eight to 10 hours at a stretch, Many of the traders in the weekly market “Dilli jana hai” again, Haleema could only with no breaks for food. There is pressure along the main road running through the stroke her head and say in a low voice, from the employers to work overtime – colony are also outsiders. Given the low “Kya karein? Majboori hai...” those who refuse are often dismissed purchasing power of most families in the The experiences of Haleema and thou- without pay. The average earnings are only resettlement colony, it is not surprising sands like her are a chilling demonstration around Rs 1,500 a month. Jayanti left the that the highest reported income from of the vulnerability conferred on women job after a month because she was severely shops and petty enterprises is only by a confluence of multiple marginal burnt when melted plastic fell on her Rs 3,500 per month. identities – as women in a patriarchal arm – she says she did not receive any pay Despite the rock-bottom conditions of society, as migrant workers in the informal or treatment. life in Bawana, expenses have increased sector, as members of minority commu- Men’s incomes alone are also severely significantly. It is ironic that in a colony nities, as individuals whose citizenship affected. Most of the men are daily wage with no sewage or drainage, sanitation is is contested and as those responsible for workers (head-loaders, handcart-pullers, a major expense. There are six public the day-to-day survival of their families construction workers or rickshaw-pullers) lavatory complexes constructed by the in a time of rapidly shrinking economic who have to travel to Delhi in search of MCD and run by contractors. Each visit opportunities. uncertain work opportunities. What they to the toilet costs a rupee, while a bath costs earn is barely sufficient for a meal and their twice as much. If clothes are washed in Impact on livelihoods travel to and from Bawana, which is about the bathroom, the contractor charges Rs 5. 50 km from their earlier location in Pushta. The average family thus spends Rs 10 to The impact on livelihoods is the most Rickshaw-pullers and daily labourers earn 15 a day on visits to the toilet. Some visible outcome of the evictions – nearly around Rs 40-50 per day, while a one-way women did attempt to use the nearby fields half the respondents in our quick survey ticket in a private bus from Bawana to Old in the first few days after the eviction, but of 100 families immediately after the Delhi costs Rs 20. Many of the men stay faced verbal and physical violence from evictions reported that family incomes had back in Delhi to save on transport, sleeping the landowners. Moreover, women who been reduced to half or less than half of on pavements and coming back to their describe themselves as being from “re- what they were in Pushta. The most sig- families only on weekends. spectable families” see defecation in the nificant factor in this drop is the loss of Transportation is the major item of open as the ultimate marker of their fall women’s independent incomes. Women expense for anyone working outside in status – it is possible that many women who were earning an average of Rs 2,000 Bawana. There is only one DTC bus route do in fact use the fields under cover of to 3,000 a month as domestic workers are and a few private buses making around darkness, but prefer not to speak about it. now unemployed, since travel to the near- four round trips a day. The driver and Sending children to school also involves est middle class colonies, where they could conductor of the DTC bus oblige private significantly higher expenses than before. possibly find work involves an expense of operators by hanging back until the private There is only one primary school in the

Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006 1971 colony – older children have to go to the how the women themselves put it. Admit- Gangaram Hospital who were holding a municipal school or one of the two private tedly, violence is not something new – high health camp in the colony refused to pro- schools in Bawana village. Apart from the levels of domestic violence were a reality vide even basic first-aid to a man who had expenses on fees and books, transport is in Pushta as well. However, the move to been seriously injured in a fight. Instead, a problem – there is only one bus route Bawana has created new vulnerabilities they told us that he did not deserve treat- that touches the resettlement colony, and for women. Closely-knit communities were ment because he was drunk and because timings are erratic. There are private vans broken up during the relocation, and women such incidents were commonplace for but the charges are out of reach for most. can no longer count on the physical and “these people”. It is not surprising that several families emotional security, however, fragile, pro- Children from the resettlement colony have chosen to pull their children (particu- vided by friends and informal support routinely face humiliation, abuse and ill- larly older girls) out of school. networks that evolved from years of living treatment not only from their classmates Public health facilities are non-existent. in close proximity. The women we inter- but also from their teachers in this jat and There are some health centres run by NGOs, acted with got little or no support from gujjar dominated area. “When food is but they only dispense medicines for minor their neighbours and relatives in dealing served, the teacher mocks us and says that illnesses. There are no doctors in the colony with the verbal abuse and physical assaults we are like beggars who have never seen – health needs are met by the numerous by husbands, fathers and brothers. Clashes food before” says 12-year old Parveen. unregistered practitioners, who deal with between neighbours are frequent and Children who come late are asked to sweep emergencies as best as they can. Mobile are sparked off by the most trivial of causes. the school grounds as a punishment. Teach- health vans from the directorate of health Thefts of food, utensils and clothes are ers constantly refer to them as ‘jhuggi- services make rare visits and are equipped common. jhonpdi ke bacche’ (slum children). to treat only minor diseases. For serious Their dispossessed status, combined with Shabina, whose parents work as cleaners conditions and emergencies, people either the conditions of life in Bawana put women in the school where she studies, is ostracised go to the Maharishi Valmiki Hospital in at the mercy of all those who provide by her classmates, who tell her “Tere Bawana village (approximately 3 km from services to the community, starting from mummy-daddy to bhangi hain”. Several the colony, or to Loknayak Jai Prakash the toilet attendants. Apart from the ex- girls have dropped out of school because Hospital which is 35 km from Bawana). pense involved, women are reluctant to they are unwilling to face these daily Expenses on health are high – children visit the public lavatory because of harass- humiliations. especially have been affected by the un- ment and misbehaviour by the attendants, Girls from the resettlement colony live healthy conditions of life in the resettle- who have broken off the latches on the in constant terror of harassment by people ment colony, which have resulted in fre- cubicle doors and barge in when women from Bawana village. Many girls say they quent episodes of diarrhoea, respiratory are bathing, ostensibly to check if they are are afraid to take the bus to school because infection and malaria. More than 75 per washing clothes on the sly. There are also passengers and conductors harass them cent of the women attending a recent health reports of girls being sexually abused by and push them around. Aggressive young camp were diagnosed as suffering from the attendants. Women who try to save men from Bawana village roam around the reproductive tract infections of varying money and avoid harassment by using the resettlement colony in the evenings, ver- degrees of severity. The first point of contact nearby fields face abuse and assault from bally and physically harassing girls and are the local unregistered practitioners, the landowners and their watchmen – there women or standing around the municipal who charge Rs 30-50 for each consulta- are occasional whispers of rape and sexual taps watching women bathing. On several tion, an amount out of reach for many. The abuse of girls who go out to relieve them- occasions, boys from the resettlement MCD medical van is eagerly awaited, but selves at night, but there is an unwilling- colony have been beaten up by gangs from comes only once a week. Consultations are ness to name the victims. the village. free, but only basic medicines are dispensed. Service providers and public servants The evictee community is itself not are not immune from class and caste preju- homogeneous – caste biases and commu- Violence: Women in the Eye dice. The staff at the MCD field office in nal prejudices colour their perceptions of of the Storm the colony speak of the residents with their neighbours. Women in one block contempt and dismiss their complaints as warn us to be careful of people in another. While both women and men have been having been concocted and not worth Inevitably, it is girls and women from affected by the evictions and the ongoing responding to. ‘Tumhare naukar hain kya?’ subordinate groups, who are blamed by re-engineering of Delhi, the violence in- (Are we your servants?) is the standard others for creating insecurity and vitiating herent in this process is being inscribed on response of the staff at the MCD field the atmosphere. The ‘dholakwalas’, a the lives and bodies of women and girls. centre to women who approach them with community of traditional entertainers, are The title of this article is a phrase we heard complaints. An enquiry team from the particular targets – more so because they repeatedly from women in the first weeks National Human Rights Commission keep to themselves and do not seem to be after the eviction – a cry from the heart (NHRC) that visited the colony in response concerned about the fact that they are that bursts forth in moments of emotion to a petition by some NGOs were told by ostracised . Girls from this community are even today, nearly two years after the the MCD staff that most of the evictees accused by other women of being “im- eviction from Pushta. were habitual liars who were actually better moral” and “spoiling” the village boys Apart from the violent destruction of off than they were before and should be who then come to the resettlement colony their livelihoods, women and girls in thankful to the government for being and harass “good” girls. Bawana live under the daily threat of removed from Pushta. In one shocking in- Protecting their daughters from being physical violence. ‘Mahol kharab hai’ is cident, a group of trainee doctors from “spoilt” is a major concern for parents in

1972 Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006 Bawana. At the best of times, patriarchal particular case resulted in an FIR being at a candlelight rally organised by the notions of women being the repositories filed and the constable being transferred, Visthapan Virodhi Abhiyan, a coalition of of the ‘izzat’ (honour) of the family is many other such incidents of harassment NGOs and civil society groups formed to cause for restricting the mobility of girls by the police, or people who enjoy the protest the evictions. She rushed back to and preventing them from straying into protection of the police, go unchallenged Pushta just in time to save her son, who “unsuitable” relationships. In Bawana, as and unrecorded. was sleeping inside her house as the bull- in the aftermath of other crisis situations dozers moved in and brought down the such as wars, communal conflicts, displace- Permanent Scars wall. “Tumhare dharne se kya hua? Marte ments and natural disasters where all the to hamare bachhe hain – tumhe kya farak certainties of life have been overturned, For many of the women we meet in parta hai? Tum to apne ghar chale jaoge!” ‘izzat’ is seen as the only wealth that remains Bawana, the wounds of the eviction are (“What use was your dharna? It is our and is to be guarded at all costs. Several still fresh. Anger and mistrust colour every children who die – what difference does girls, particularly the older ones, have been interaction for some, while others are it make to you? You will go back to your withdrawn from schools and confined to trapped in fatalism and lethargy. Women, house!”) she cries. Fatima is educated and the home. The patriarchal urge to protect many of them community workers with has been a member of a leftist organisation, values and traditions from being swept NGOs working in Pushta, were active in but now refuses to join in any community away in the turmoil is reinforced and the protest against the evictions and the activity and has only contempt for NGOs. justified by the changed economic circum- desperate efforts to petition the courts, The last collective action taken by the stances that make women’s labour a valu- meet politicians and appeal to the president Pushta community after the evictions was able commodity, the exploitation of which to stall the demolitions. They still cannot their decision to go back to their old area is necessary for survival in Bawana. There understand how all these efforts could have to cast their votes in the general elections have also been a rash of hurried marriages failed. They speak of the evictions as if of 1994. However, their sense of triumph of younger girls who had every expecta- they had just happened. “Jis din mera ghar and satisfaction at having contributed to tion of continuing their education if they toda gaya, us din mera kaleja bhi toot the rout of the BJP – and Jagmohan’s had stayed in Pushta. gaya” (“The day they broke my house, my defeat in particular – has long worn off. Violence from the police is a constant heart broke too”) says Laila Bibi. She tells Whatever hopes the community had threat and is not confined to the occasional us that in the first months after the evic- from the Congress and the Left have been raids on stalls set up along the main road. tions, she would make the long journey to discarded. Most of the police constables posted in the Pushta every week to stand and stare at colony also belong to the jat and gujjar the spot where her house used to be. Evictions and Delhi’s communities and have strong caste loyal- Many women have been broken by the ‘Shanghai Dreams’ ties. Police have refused to intervene in loss of their hard-won self-esteem and several incidents where gangs from the dignity. Zarina, who had a flourishing As the Yamuna Pushta evictions dem- village have attacked food stalls and tea restaurant with four employees and an onstrate, the destruction of the homes and shops, beating up the vendors and breaking income of Rs 1,500 a day in Pushta, now livelihood security of marginal communi- utensils when they are asked to pay for runs a tiny makeshift food stall. She tells ties has emerged as a key driver in con- what they have eaten. Police constables us how ashamed she feels to be sitting verting Delhi into an attractive destination stood by when a fire swept through the under a tarpaulin at her makeshift stove for international investors. In a tragic irony, colony a few weeks ago, leaving more than cooking and serving meagre meals in full more and more of the migrant poor are 300 families without shelter, and mocking view of the passers-by. She cannot get used being de-housed and rendered homeless in those who pleaded for help to put out the to the lack of privacy. “Yahan koi izzat order to make way for other migrants – flames. se kaise rahe?” (“How can anyone live the upwardly mobile professionals from Police personnel on duty at the main with dignity in this place?”) she says. other states and other countries who are road and inside the colony have them- Their inability to meet social obligations pouring into Delhi. selves been involved in the assault on is also a source of shame and humiliation. As pointed out by activists of the women and girls. In a recent incident, a Many women tell us of the annual visits National Campaign for Housing Rights in 13-year old girl was brought to the police they used to make to their villages, bearing the context of the Calcutta evictions of the beat box after midnight along with her gifts from the big city for their relatives. 1980s,4 “housing” is not just the physical mother and brother on the pretext that their These contacts have ceased completely. structure of four walls and a roof but a neighbours had lodged a complaint against Women who used to help out their rela- place to live in security and dignity. The them. The mother and brother were beaten tives and neighbours with small loans from Bengali word that is most commonly used and threatened with worse by a police their own earnings are now themselves by ordinary people in Calcutta for housing hanger-on, a well known ‘goonda’ from in debt. One woman committed suicide – ‘basosthan’, meaning a place to settle, the village. The girl was taken inside by soon after the evictions, which took place to live, has a meaning distinct from the police photographer (also a young man just before her daughter’s wedding – she ‘abashan’, the term that planners from Bawana village) who made her sit could not bear the shame of not being able and builders use and which means mere on his lap, fondled her and bit her cheek to give her a proper ceremony. buildings or housing projects. when she tried to escape. The family was Fatima, who was employed as a sweeper The mass evictions of the last two de- released only after they paid a bribe of at the Delhi secretariat, bursts into angry cades in all the Indian metros have been Rs 800 to the constable on duty at the tears as she told us how she nearly lost her legitimised through a series of policy beat box. Although our intervention in this child when the demolitions began. She was measures designed to facilitate the growth

Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006 1973 of the real-estate market. In rural areas, chastised the government for encouraging colonies is cited as justification for the changes in land-use legislation have em- “slum creation instead of slum clearance” decision to withhold long-term ‘pattas’ powered industrialists and real-estate de- and stated that “rewarding an encroacher in Bawana. MCD officials ask us to velopers to take over huge tracts of agri- on public land with free alternate sites is motivate evictees to improve their sur- cultural, forest and common land, accel- like giving a reward to a pickpocket.” This roundings and build houses for them- erating the process of destruction of rural observation by the apex court has become selves. The illogic of this position – of livelihoods and forcing whole communi- the benchmark for a series of subsequent expecting people to invest in a place where ties to migrate to urban areas. rulings in high courts across the country. they have neither income security nor At the same time, “squatting” on urban The Delhi High Court ruling in a petition security of tenure – appears to be invisible land was converted from a civil to a crimi- challenging the removal of industries from to policy-makers. nal offence in most states in the early residential areas6 reiterated that those who Those who leave Bawana disappear 1980s. Millions of people who have been encroach on public lands are like pick- completely – no one is able to tell us where forced to set up their own informal settle- pockets and therefore cannot have any they have gone. Dreams have died for ments because of the lack of any other right to alternative accommodation. The most of those who remain – survival option have been made criminals at a single state government policy of providing al- today, not development tomorrow, is all stroke, liable to eviction without notice or ternate sites to dwellers in informal settle- that concerns them now. EPW compensation and vulnerable to exploi- ments occupying public land before evict- tation by politicians, police and local mafia ing them has also been quashed by the Email: [email protected] who promise them protection. Delhi High Court. Even those who have some assurance of It is ironic that in all these cases, the Notes security of tenure (such as that provided courts have not held government bodies by ration cards or voter identity cards) accountable for their failure to provide [This paper documents the experience of Jagori, suffer constant harassment and pressure to affordable and adequate housing for the a Delhi-based women’s resource centre which has move from real-estate developers, right urban poor. For instance, in the judgment been working for over 20 years on issues of women’s rights. As a member of the Dilli Visthapan Virodhi wing groups and residents of neighbouring mentioned above, the Delhi High Court Manch, Jagori is involved in protests against the middle class colonies. Their status as “non- noted that the administration had failed to ongoing evictions in Delhi and is supporting women citizens” makes it possible for their basic devise housing schemes for the urban poor, and girls in the Bawana resettlement colony in rights to be violated with impunity – for but added that this failure could not be- their struggles to claim their rights and entitle- instance, it is now standard practice for come a reason for providing alternative ments.] municipal authorities to refuse to provide sites to encroachers on public land. drinking water, sanitation or electricity to In such a situation, what do the women 1 The MCD figures have been contested by activists and researchers who point out that the informal settlements on the grounds that of Bawana and other resettlement colonies volumes of sewage and solid waste thrown into these would be used by residents to claim in Delhi have to look forward to? For the river by the MCD’s own waste disposal their right to live there. many, the move to Bawana is not the first system far exceeds the amount of waste generated As recent judgments by the Delhi High time they have been uprooted – it may not by all the informal settlements in Delhi. Court have emphasised, even resettlement be the last. They have been told that they 2 ‘The Yamuna Pushta Evictions: What Happened is not a right that evictees can claim. In will get jobs when the small industrial to Those Who Were Not Assigned Plots?’, line with this approach, the length of tenure units presently functioning in various Hazards Centre, December 2004. 3 This interview and several others with women given for resettlement plots in Delhi has middle class colonies of Delhi move to in the resettlement colony in the immediate decreased from 99 years to evictees of the Bawana Industrial Estate, which has 10,000 aftermath of the evictions, was conducted by 1980s, to a mere five years for those evicted plots. The owners of these units are resist- Diva Dhar, a graduate student from Mount from Pushta. ing the move – their small profit margins Holyoke College who was interning with Jagori An analysis of Supreme Court pro- will not survive the costs of transporting at the time. nouncements on petitions against evictions raw materials and finished products to and 4 Jai Sen, ‘Foundations of Our Lives’, New over the last two decades underlines the from Delhi. Internationalist, 1996. perceptible hardening of judicial attitudes Speculation in land has already begun. 5 Videh Upadhyay, ‘Further to the Margins – 5 By Law’, India Together, 2003. towards the urban poor. In the Bombay Today, nearly two years after the evic- 6 Okhla Factory Owners Association versus pavement-dwellers case (Olga Tellis tions, several large godowns and ostenta- Government of NCT of Delhi, 2003. versus Municipal Corporation of Mumbai) tious double-storeyed houses, each occu- the court recognised that evictions would pying land equivalent to two or three of destroy the livelihoods of those affected the original plots, are visible in every block and consequently undermine their consti- in Bawana. These belong to people from Economic and Political Weekly tutional right to life. The judgment stated Bawana village who have bought out the available at that “human compassion must soften original owners and obviously anticipate the rough edges of justice in all situations” good returns on their investments. Alter Media Bookshop on the principle that “the humbler the Officials are cynical about this slow Brahmaswom Madom Bldg, dwelling, the greater the suffering and exodus from Bawana, which according M G Road, Trissur 680 001 more intense the loss”. to them goes to prove that the evictees Kerala Fifteen years after this landmark ruling, are not people without options. The need Email: [email protected] the Supreme Court judgment in the case to make sure that only the “genuine of Almitra Patel versus Union of India homeless” are given place in resettlement

1974 Economic and Political Weekly May 20, 2006