Demonstration Against Bulldozer Raj

A joint demonstration was held in Delhi at Jantar Mantar on 6 September organised by AICCTU, AISA, RYA, housing rights activist groups (Mazdoor Awaas Adhikar Abhiyan), civil society organizations (Working Peoples’ Charter) and left trade unions. People who have been evicted by Modi’s bulldozers at many places in national capital during last few months along with AICCTU members from many areas of Delhi including Gyaspur, Dhobi Ghat, Wazirpur etc. also joined the protest.

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) rules categorically that any resident of a slum who has been staying in the area from or before 2015 cannot be evicted without proper rehabilitation. Yet the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has become habitual in displacing the urban workers.

Land is being rampantly taken over for pro-rich “development” policies, that too at a time when land is becoming scarce due to population expansion and environmental degradation. From villages to cities - displacement of the working classes from land and livelihood (without adequate rehabilitation/compensation) – has increasingly become the norm.

The right to housing is a major concern in urban and semi-urban areas which are growing in numbers and population by the years. AICCTU leader Shweta Raj said that the question is significant enough for political parties to make election promises like “Jaha Jhuggi Waha Makan”. Yet those promises run hollow when it comes to implementation.

CPIML Delhi State Secretary Ravi Rai expressed his party’s solidarity with the struggle against the Bulldozer Raj. He said that like in Jahangirpuri and Dhobi Ghat, the bulldozers will be stopped by peoples’ mobilization. AILAJ Central Committee member Mukesh Kishore emphasized on the need for unity among affected people and on the need for a steady and consistent mobilization.

​