tiss

On , 28/11/13 at around 12 pm the police and the BMC forcefully and violently evicted more than 100 people living behind Agarwadi bus stop close to Mankhurd. This eviction with gross human right violations took place despite a suo-motu notice being served to the BMC, PWD and the police by the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, dated 23/11/13.

The hearing for which is scheduled on the 13th of December 2013. Without any prior notice, the BMC officials started snatching the people’s property and loading them on to trucks.

When the people and some students from TISS tried to ask the officials not to take away their belongings, they were assaulted by the police. One male police inspector Mr. Dilip Thorat assaulted women and children got injured in the process.

The police then detained around 30 people, including the women and children from the community and 12 students from TISS for around 10 hours at Trombay Police Station. Meanwhile, the BMC officials confiscated the people’s property and set fire to the remaining belongings. The people evicted are migrant workers from the Masanjogi community.

They have been residing in Bombay in the same area since the past 20 years. These workers have built the surrounding area including the roads and the compound walls from which they are today, removed. The people have had to face constant threats and abuses including multiple evictions in the past one year. This has happened due to the nexus between a powerful private businessman, the police and the BMC officials.

The businessman wants to build a Banquet Hall on the land behind the pavement that the people were staying. His proposition being that the people look ‘ugly’ on the road and hence need to be ‘removed’ from there.

I condemn our detainment and the brutal and illegal eviction that took place today.

Standing in solidarity with the people I urge you to support them in their struggle.

 

email-  Rohit Ranjan [email protected]

 

Enhanced by Zemanta