The Hindu 13.01.2011
Demolition of religious structure by DDA sparks tension in Delhi
Several people were injured when the police lathicharged and teargassed
residents who were protesting against the demolition of a religious
structure by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) at Nizamuddin here on
Wednesday.
The demolition began early in the morning when a DDA
squad, accompanied by a large police contingent, reached the site and
brought the structure, which was built on government land, down within a
couple of hours.
“The structure was demolished following a High Court
order of October 28, 2010, on a contempt petition filed by the area
residents’ welfare association,” DDA spokesperson Neemo Dhar said.
The police said the decision to carry out the demolition
early in the morning was taken to avoid inconvenience to residents and
vehicles passing through the area.
Area MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah came to know about the
demolition around 10.30 a.m. and reached the police station where a big
crowd had gathered.
CM’s nod for prayers
“I went to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s residence and
she said that the area residents should be allowed to offer prayers at
the site. She also informed the Police Commissioner and the DDA
Vice-Chairman of it. When I returned, people had started walking towards
the site. I joined them,” said Mr. Marwah, who is also Parliamentary
Secretary to Ms. Dikshit.
Area residents said Okhla MLA Mohammad Asif had also joined them by then.
“Around 1.45 p.m., we were walking towards the site
under the Barapullah flyover when the police attacked us from both
sides. Then I heard a gunshot. Several persons were injured in the
police action,” Mr. Marwah alleged.
Akhtar Ali (36), who sustained a head injury, alleged
that the police allowed the protesters to cross the first barricade and
then cornered them.
“They started beating us with lathis and lobbed tear-gas
shells without any warning. They did not even use water cannon,” he
alleged.
“The police action went on for about 15 minutes,” Mr. Ali said.
On their part, the police said trouble erupted when a group started pelting stones at the policemen guarding the site.
No gunshot fired
“They first hurled stones and then charged towards the
site. No gunshots were fired, and in all, 11 tear-gas shells were
lobbed. The mob damaged 17 private vehicles parked in the area. We were
not informed that the Chief Minister had allowed the residents to offer
prayers at the site,” a police officer said.