Latest news with #AtulHowale
The Wire
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Delhi: Peaceful Pro-Palestine Protest Met With 'Jai Shree Ram' Chants, Threats in Police Presence
Atul Howale 'The police were completely deferential in allowing them (right-wing mob), even as they threatened to push us. It reveals a deep divide,' says activist Harsh Mander, who was at the demonstration. Protesters hold banners near the HP showroom in Nehru Place as onlookers gather on the first-floor gallery. Photo: Atul Howale New Delhi: A peaceful demonstration was organised on Saturday, July 19, at the famous computer market in Nehru Place, Delhi, in protest of the genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza and in solidarity with Palestinians. Around 12:30 PM, while more than 50 people were peacefully protesting, carrying Palestinian flags and banners, a huge group of right-wing people arrived at Nehru Place to oppose it and started threatening the participants. There was no sloganeering or chanting, nor any other misconduct by the demonstrators, but the protesters still had to face significant opposition. Demonstrating near the HP Computers store, a mob threw mud at the participants from the first floor. Subsequently, a large number of right-wing people started shouting slogans of " Jai Shri Ram", " Har Har Mahadev" and " Vande Mataram". After some time, the right-wing mob grew bigger. Many of them started abusing the participants and threatening them with statements like, "If you want to protest, go and do it in Palestine, not here." A right-wing supporter chants slogans against the demonstrators in presence of Delhi Police. Photo: Atul Howale Indian economist and social activist Jean Drèze, who was part of the peaceful demonstration, told The Wire, 'We did not raise any slogans and started to protest peacefully, but we were stopped from protesting. We are here not only to oppose the genocide in Gaza and demand an immediate ceasefire, but also to expose the complicity of the Indian government and to affirm the right to protest.' He said, 'The current situation, whether the government gives you permission or not, we have a duty to speak out.' 'The government is with Israel because it depends on Israel for technology, especially defence and surveillance technology. It has many commercial ties with Israel. The Palestinians are powerless; they have nothing to offer, so naturally, the Indian government is taking the side of Israel. But we are with the Palestinian people, and the sentiment of the Indian public, I think, is also with the Palestinian people," he added. Many students, university professors, artists, activists, citizens and representatives from other social organisations participated in the Nehru Place demonstration. There was no chanting or any slogans; it was a completely non-violent, peaceful protest. A protester holds a "Free, Free Palestine" banner. Photo: Atul Howale Starting from the centrally-located HP Computers showroom in Nehru Place market up to the Nehru Enclave metro station, a right-wing mob pursued the protesters, chanting slogans and threatening the protesters continuously – all in the presence of the Delhi Police. Around this time, Delhi Police personnel present at the site started asking the people protesting peacefully to leave the area, saying, "You do not have permission to protest here." Soon, the protesters were removed from the protest site. Delhi Police officers confront the peaceful demonstrators at Nehru Place. Photo: Atul Howale Activist Harsh Mander, who participated in the demonstration, criticised the police's double standards. He said, "In India, this protest isn't just about the state's complicit role in supporting Israel. It's also about the silence of ordinary Indians. That is why holding it in an area like Nehru Place was so important.' 'What was remarkable is how our protest was met by a spontaneous, larger crowd chanting ' Jai Shri Ram' and 'Filisteen Murdabad'. (But) the police were completely deferential in allowing them, even as they threatened to push us. It reveals a deep divide." About half-an-hour later, even as the demonstrators moved to the Nehru Place metro station gate, the police prevented them from even gathering together. The police also stopped the journalists who were reporting on this protest and were not even letting the participants speak with journalists. Police instructs the demonstrators to disperse from Nehru Enclave metro station. Photo: Atul Howale Anjali, a participant in this protest, condemned this action of the police. She said, "We didn't take permission because this wasn't a protest with slogans; it was a peaceful demonstration, which is our constitutional right. Our placards had very simple messages: 'Stop the genocide,' and 'Don't arm Israel with weapons that are going to kill children'.' 'When our flags came out at 12:30 PM, a very, very angry crowd came towards us. They started questioning us, asking, 'Where is the Indian flag?' But when the Indian flag was given to them, they seemed not to care about that at all. They just kept tearing all the Palestinian flags and our peaceful placards. This is the state of how much you can dissent in the country," she said. Like Anjali, activist and academic Nandita Narain also participated in this demonstration. Speaking to The Wire, she said, 'It's very shocking that the Indian government has completely lost its moral stature in the world. We are the country of Gandhi, and Gandhi is held up in such high esteem all over the world, not only for his stand on peaceful resistance but also to stand with the oppressed all over the world.' A protester holds a 'Free, Free Palestine' banner. Photo: Atul Howale 'You can't push the Palestinians out and occupy that land. That is ethnic cleansing. We never imagined that in this day and age, something like this will happen and it will be applauded by so many Western countries, with their eyes shut to the kind of crimes that are going on,' she added. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
‘They Gave No Prior Notice': With Electricity Cut Off, Residents of Delhi's Jai Hind Camp Now Fear Eviction
New Delhi: Thousands of people residing in the Jai Hind Camp near Vasant Kunj in Delhi, are living in fear and uncertainty for the past few days. On Tuesday, July 7, the electricity supply to their homes was disconnected without any prior notice. The families, many of whom have lived in the settlement for more than 25 years, now face the threat of eviction. Nearly 8,000 people live in this camp. A private provider was supplying electricity in this area and the residents were paying monthly bills as per the readings on the meter. However, around 1PM on Tuesday, the electricity connections were suddenly disconnected in the presence of Delhi Police personnel, leaving many children, women and elderly suffering in the scorching heat. Milan, a resident of the Jai Hind Camp, says, "I have lived in this camp with my family since I was a toddler. But we are not getting the basic rights we deserve. People should have access to water, electricity and roads, but we don't have any of that here. We were paying Rs 10 per unit for the electricity, yet they cut off the power supply on Tuesday.' Residents of Jai Hind Camp are shifting their electric appliances after the power supply was cut off. Photo: Atul Howale 'During elections, politicians come and promise not to demolish the slum, but once the elections are over, no one comes back. In this scorching heat of Delhi, children are unable to sleep, and there are a lot of mosquitoes here, which makes living here extremely difficult," he adds. The residents of Jai Hind Camp are mainly migrant workers from West Bengal, a majority of whom belong to the Muslim community. The area's unsanitary conditions are particularly concerning, with garbage strewn everywhere. There are no proper roads, no clean water facilities and overall, the administration has completely neglected the camp. Motiyar Rahman, a resident, says, "I have been living in this camp for the past 25-26 years, and since the beginning, I have worked collecting garbage from nearby housing societies and dumping it at the landfill. On Tuesday, I was at work when I received a call from a family member saying that electricity in the camp had been cut off. Everything was suddenly shut down without any prior notice. That night, due to the heat and mosquitoes, I couldn't sleep at all, and the next day, I couldn't even go to work." It has been three days since the administration has cut off power supply in the settlement. An electricity meter mounted on the wall of a temple in Jai Hind Camp, Delhi, is now disconnected. Photo: Atul Howale He adds, "Now that the electricity has been cut, we are also dependent on water tankers, which come only once every four or five days. We store water in plastic containers and cans, but if it falls short, we have to buy it for Rs 20 each time. The fear now is that today, they cut the electricity, what if they stop the water supply next? Where will we go then? Our children are studying in nearby schools. If we are evicted from here, their schooling will stop too." Fatima, who has also been living here for 25 years, works as a domestic helper in nearby residential societies to support her family. According to her, since a lot of the migrant workers there are Bengali-speaking Muslims, they are constantly under pressure to prove that they are Indian Muslims and not Rohingya Muslims. Fatima tells The Wire, "There are small children in our homes, and many women are pregnant. How much suffering are they going through in this extreme heat? What kind of justice is this from the government? We are human beings. We have been living here for 20-25 years. Our children were born here, and go to school nearby…in a couple of days, they might stop the water too, just so that we leave this place on our own." She says, "When elections come, politicians say, 'Brothers, sisters, give us your vote, and we'll provide you with all the facilities.' We vote for them. That same government is now trying to evacuate us. We are harassed by being called 'Bangladeshi' or 'Rohingya,' even though we have voter ID cards and all the necessary documents proving we belong here.' 'When it's time to vote, we are Indians, but when we ask for our rights, we are labelled as outsiders and Rohingya. The local police even went to our villages (in Bengal) for verification and didn't find a Bangladeshi. This government just wants to remove Muslims from here," she adds. Like Fatima, Mahidul Sheikh is also a resident of Jai Hind Camp who migrated from Bengal and has lived here for over 15 years. He too says that they are forcibly labelled as 'Bangladeshi', even though they can prove they are not. 'We have submitted all our local identity documents. The police here even went to our village in Bengal and spoke to the local MLA and MP to verify that we are from there. We have submitted all those documents to the police station,' he says. "Still, yesterday, around 15-20 police personnel and others came and cut off our electricity supply. When we tried to ask them why, they gave us no explanation; they don't want to talk to us; they only want to use force," Mahidul says. While the residents of Jai Hind Camp endure darkness and extreme heat without electricity, there is also a looming fear that bulldozers might soon arrive at their homes. Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Delhi, there has been a continuous demolition drive targeting slum encroachments. Areas like the Madrasi Camp in Jangpura, Bhoomihin Camp in Kalkaji, and several others have already faced bulldozer action over the last few months.
