[Reader-list] Delhi demolitions/Protests

[diya at sarai.net]

Adding to the posts on Nangla Machi - In Delhi, the main opposition has
come from the Jan Chetna Manch, under the leadership of ex-Prime Minister V
P Singh. On March 27, a rally was called by the Manch and attended by over
15,000 people. In the afternoon, members of the rally decided to court
arrest and moved towards the barriers, breaking one of them in the process,
before the police countered with water cannon and tear gas and took the
leaders into the police station. V P Singh, who is quite unwell, lay down
on the podium to mark his protest to the police action and the government's
response to slum demolitions. Finally, in the late evening, the Minister of
State for Urban Development came and gave specific assurances that
demolitions would be stopped and people relocated within a distance of 2
kilometres from the original site.

The next day, news has begun coming in that notices for forcible
eviction and demolition have been served on settlements at Bhatti
Mines, Banuwal Nagar, and Wazirpur. Since his first visit, Mr Singh is
being detained every time he makes an attempt to visit Nangla Machi.