COPS, FOREST OFFICIALS WORK WITH LAND MAFIA, ALLEGE KHORI GAON RESIDENTS FACING EVICTION
[ https://thewire.in/environment/cops-forest-officials-work-with-land-mafia-allege-khori-gaon-residents-facing-eviction ]
[ https://thewire.in/government/rampant-arrests-rare-convictions-in-punjab-the-uapa-is-ripe-for-misuse ]
On the morning of June 16, the residents of Khori Gaon woke up to find that a man in his 70s, one Ganeshi Lal, had hung
[ https://www.timesnownews.com/amp/delhi/article/aravalli-encroachment-demolition-man-70-ends-life-over-fear-of-losing-home-locals-fire-up-against-sc-order/771924 ] himself from the branch of a tree outside his home. A crowd had gathered, and shortly after, a large police force followed. A video shows the moments after the man’s body had been brought down, with the crowd yelling at the police. After some lathi charge, locals say, the police took the body away, along with the man’s family members, reports Naomi Barton.
Ganeshi Lal allegedly took this step because of his anxiety about the impending demolition of Khori Gaon, an urban village with at least 10,000 households and home to at least 100,000 people. On June 7, the Supreme Court issued an order
[ https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-orders-removal-of-encroachments-in-aravali-forest-land/article34754417.ece ]
to “remove all encroachments on the subject forest land without exception”, within six weeks time. The court made it clear that this was to be executed by any means necessary, stating, “The State in general and the police in particular shall give necessary and adequate logistical support to enable the Corporation to implement the directions given by us to evict the occupants / encroachers including by forcible eviction… and to clear all the encroachments therefrom.”
Following this order, the inhabitants of Khori Gaon began to protest [https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/gurugram-news/illegal-colonies-khori-gaon-residents-to-continue-protest-eight-in-police-custody-101623606279274.html ], with men, women and children staging a sit-in on the main Faridabad-Delhi road, demanding some form of rehabilitation before
being made homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic. By June 14, the police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the growing crowds, arresting at least eight people [ https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/gurugram-news/illegal-colonies-khori-gaon-residents-to-continue-protest-eight-in-police-custody-101623606279274.html ] and detaining several others.
But this is not the first time the residents of Khori Gaon have been victims of police violence. Demolitions took place in the Punjabi Colony area of the village in April this year, as well as in October last year.
Sumedha* says she was beaten by the police with sticks when she tried to salvage belongings from her house as it was being demolished by bulldozers on October 14. She claims there was no notice before this took place – the police came the night before to tell them to clear out their homes. “How could I take out everything in my home in one night?” she says. Sumedha’s family decided to rebuild the house. On April 2, the house was demolished once more. Yet again, the residents received no notice ahead of the demolition except for the police’s announcement the night before.
No receipts or paper trails accompanied the many transactions residents say they were forced to make, and so they cannot be proved.