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The Wire
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Wire
‘Development For Whom?': Residents of Demolished Madrasi Camp Tackle Grief, Inconvenience and Loss
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Government 'Development For Whom?': Residents of Demolished Madrasi Camp Tackle Grief, Inconvenience and Loss Oohini Mukhopadhyay and Zeeshan Kaskar 51 minutes ago 'This is BJP's demolition spree, Mr Modi calls it development, but for whom? For us, it's destruction. Development means uplifting the poor, not throwing them out.' Residents collect their belongings from the rubble at the Madrasi Camp in New Delhi, which was demolished on June 1. Photo: The Wire. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now New Delhi: On June 1, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished homes in the Madrasi Camp in New Delhi's Jangpura area on the directions of the Delhi high court. The Madrasi Camp is primarily home to working class Tamils. The Delhi government has been directed to relocate families living there as the settlements have allegedly been blocking a key drain. While the Tamil Nadu government has said that it will support families looking to return to their home districts, three days after the bulldozers rolled in, the rubble at Madrasi Camp is still with grief. Krishna, a resident of the camp, is an employee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. He says the demolition was arbitrary and offers examples of how structures on the same tract of land have been left untouched while others were taken down. 'They told us the drain had to be cleared. And yet, the buildings right across from ours are still standing. While the temple was demolished, the airline staff quarters nearby are untouched,' he says. While notices were issued in advance, many residents like Krishna say they were misled and told that it would be routine drain maintenance work, not a full demolition. Residents also point out the glaring disparity of treatment. Krishna notes that a high-profile government housing, also purportedly on encroached land, was never touched. 'This is BJP's demolition spree, Mr Modi calls it development, but for whom? For us, it's destruction. Development means uplifting the poor, not throwing them out,' he said. Residents collect their belongings from the rubble at the Madrasi Camp in New Delhi, which was demolished on June 1. Photo: The Wire. Encroachments or the Metro construction? The Barapullah bridge, a 400-year-old Mughal-era structure, lies beneath the modern Barapullah flyover in Delhi. It is believed to have been constructed in 1621-22, and was once an important passage for Mughals travelling between Humayun's Tomb and the Nizamuddin Dargah. Over time, the bridge had fallen into disrepair. Untreated sewage and garbage collecting in the canal under the Barapullah bridge, encroachments, and its damaged piers had rendered it almost unrecognisable as a historical site. The garbage collecting in the canal has also led to flooding, as it stopped rainwater from flowing through the canal. While the garbage has now been cleared, the water in it still gives off a foul smell. According to authorities, the camp was allegedly blocking the Barapullah drain, which was leading to the water-logging. But residents say the problem began only after Metro construction in the area, which blocked a water outlet to the Yamuna. In an order on May 9, the Delhi high court directed the Delhi government's Public Works Department to begin demolishing the camp starting from June 1. What followed left hundreds of families homeless overnight, with many accusing the authorities of systemic neglect. Residents have also claimed that the DDA also appears to have a ramshackle rehabilitation process. Three days since the demolition, one of the residents in the camp who requested anonymity says, 'I haven't cooked or eaten anything since. They threw us out, our belongings were stolen, our houses destroyed. What more can I say?'. For many, the camp was home for decades. 'I've lived here 55 years,' the woman quoted above adds, murmuring of her children who grew up here. Residents collect their belongings from the rubble at the Madrasi Camp in New Delhi, which was demolished on June 1. Photo: The Wire. Just three months ago, DDA officials had surveyed the area. A migrant from Bengal, Ashok, says, 'They (BJP MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah and his supporters) came with tulsi leaves and Ganga water during the Delhi election campaign season, swearing that they would resettle residents in the same area.' Another resident recalled. 'They took Rs 500 for documentation. Out of the 370 who submitted documents, only 179 were approved. Many have been denied any resettlement.' A key grievance is that while the court was told only 300 families lived in the camp, nearly 700 were displaced. 'Only 179 got homes. The rest are now living on the streets,' says Ashok. 'I didn't get any house,' a woman says. 'They've destroyed everything. Where should I go with my small children?' she asks. Narela Several families have been relocated to Narela, over 50 kilometres away. 'I work in the Nirman Bhawan as a private employee – how will I reach the office from Narela? If my commute costs Rs 12,000 a month and I earn Rs 20,000, what do I survive on?' says Vijay Kumar, who was at the Madrasi Camp site when The Wire visited. 'It takes three hours just to get there,' says another woman whose son was born in the Madrasi Camp and who was searching for his school books in the rubble. Another resident asks, 'How will we keep our jobs when we have to travel six hours a day? My wife cleans houses here, I work at the Bima Bhawan. We can't afford to commute.' For A. Palani, a housekeeper in his forties who is originally from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, the biggest worry is his children. 'My daughters study in Lajpat Nagar. How will they travel five hours every day from Narela?' he asks. Local residents say no elected representative has visited the site since the court order. 'Our MLA Marwah lives nearby but never came. The CM says Rs 700 crore was allocated for slum dwellers – was it for this demolition?' she says. Despite the Delhi government's claim in court that rehabilitation would happen under the 2015 slum policy, those on the ground say none of the promised help has come. In the absence of approachable authorities, residents are relying on civil society and legal aid. Many residents who are armed with papers have had to move courts to secure rehabilitation in Narela as well. For Tamil migrants of Madrasi Camp, the demolition has not just broken homes but erased history. Krishna says, 'My grandfather came here in 1962. My father was born here. So was I. Now, they want to send us back like we were never part of this city.' The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News 8,000 Homes Demolished in Gujarat's Siasat Nagar, Government Cites 'National Security The Gujarat Evictions and the Weaponisation of National Security Their Shrines Demolished, Muslims in Gujarat's Gir Somnath Have Nowhere to Look for Hope 'Unjustified and Solely Politically Motivated': Lokpal Dismisses Pleas Against ex-SEBI Chief Madhabi Buch Banu Mushtaq's Importance Goes Much Beyond the Booker What Amit Shah's Amarnath Yatra Security Meeting Says About Who Controls Law and Order in J&K Haryana | Muslim Man Dies After Being Hit in 'Skull Cap' Dispute; Not Hate Crime, Say Police The Politics of 'Heart Lamp' Is Profound, Urgent and Reflects the Lived Reality of Millions Do We Want to Become Vishwa Guru or Vish Guru? View in Desktop Mode About Us Contact Us Support Us © Copyright. All Rights Reserved.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
TN CM pays rich tributes to Karunanidhi on his birth anniversary
Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin paid rich tributes to his father and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on his birth anniversary on Tuesday hailing him as a towering Tamil personality who elevated Tamil Nadu. Stalin paid floral tributes to a portrait of the late leader at Gopalapuram here. Karunanidhi's birth anniversary today is being observed as Classical Language Day. A resolution passed at the DMK general council in Madurai on June 1 had said June 3, marking the birth anniversary of late DMK president and five-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister will be observed as Classical Language Day across India. Taking to social media platform X, Stalin said 'Birthday of Kalaignar, leader of Tamil race, who rose like a sun of knowledge to uplift Tamil Nadu that once lay in decline." He further said 'Let us take pride in being the bretheren of Kalaignar who created history by leading the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a great movement that guides India, for 50 years, and who provided both light and shadow. #Kalaignar 102.' DMK youth wing secretary and Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin appealed to the party members to celebrate the birthday of the "great Tamil scholar who is still the heartbeat of the Tamils" as Classical Language Day and pay tribute to his fame. 'Let us resolve to continue the party's rule by winning in 2026 polls,' he said in a post on X. Hailed as a visionary leader, Karunanidhi a prolific writer, too, was also a champion of social justice. 'More than being a five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Kalaignar was a cultural icon, a fearless reformer, and a tireless advocate for social justice. Over his decades-long political journey, he championed the rights of the marginalised and worked relentlessly to uplift the lives of millions,' says DMK leader Nolambur V Rajan. Among his many transformative contributions, his revolutionary reforms in education stand as one of his most enduring legacies. At a time when access to quality education was a privilege for the few, Kalaignar envisioned a Tamil Nadu where education would be a fundamental right for all, regardless of caste, creed, or economic background, Rajan said. Besides, Karunanidhi advocated for Tamil as a medium of instruction to make learning more accessible to the rural population.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Revisiting Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan's Nayakan, not as a gangster epic, but as an existential melodrama in disguise
Rarely in cinema does a man weep after revenge. When he does, it is often framed as relief, a final letting go. A wound closed, the audience applauds. Justice, they think, has been served. But Nayakan refuses such ease. When Naicker (Kamal Haasan) kills the policeman who murdered his foster father, he does not feel triumph. There is no music to lift him, no silence to dignify the act. Instead, he walks to the policeman's house. The widow sits in grief. And there, in the wreckage of a family broken by his hand, Naicker sees the child. The child who does not know, cannot know that the man standing before him ended his father's life. He walks up to Naicker, unaware, and says only this: 'My father is dead.' Naicker breaks. He does not cry for the man he killed. He cries for the boy. For the knowledge that vengeance, even when justified, is never clean. That violence does not end with the act; it seeps and spreads. That the blood of the guilty leaves the innocent stained. This moment does not ask for sympathy. It does not moralize. It simply shows that in the world Naicker inhabits, every gain is a loss, every justice a wound, every act of power a compromise. This moment is the soul of Nayakan. It is where Mani Ratnam's vision breathes deepest. It is where the film stops looking outwards and turns inwards. For the first time, Naicker begins to question the single belief that carried him through life. As a boy, he is told by his foster father: 'Anything that helps others is not wrong.' The line strikes him not as advice, but as truth. No wonder, from that point on, the film moves with an inevitability. The next time we see him, he is grown. He has aged, both in years and in belief. That one sentence has become the axis of his world. Through it, he finds purpose: to stand against the systems that wronged him, to protect the people around him, to rewrite the balance with his own hands. So when he kills the policeman, he does more than avenge his father's death. He removes a figure of power who brought fear and violence to his community. In that act, Naicker becomes Nayakan — the people's hero. Also Read | Why Mani Ratnam's Nayakan remains a magnificent mob epic So he becomes the law himself. Not through power alone, but through presence. Through a kind of authority the city cannot name but must obey. He rises up the ladders of survival and influence. Yet he never leaves behind the words that gave him direction. Nor the people he sees himself in, Tamils, scattered at the edges of Bombay, caught in a city that never lets them forget they do not belong. He becomes a don, yes. But also a figure people turn to. A woman with a dying child comes to him, not the state. It is Naicker who brings her to the doctor. It is Naicker who forces care into a system built on neglect. It is Naicker who adopts the very child who made him pause, the son of the man he killed. He ensures the boy and his mother are taken care of, as though by doing so he might contain the fracture within himself, he might redeem himself. But life is not that simplistic. It does not resolve so neatly. He can bend the world outside to his will, but not the one within. That one keeps returning, without warning. It happens again. His wife is killed in a gangland crossfire. Another cost, another silence. And this time it is his daughter who stands before him. She does not accept the world he has made. She questions it. And in her eyes, he sees again the doubt he thought he had buried. Once again, he breaks. And once again, he has no words. Because heroism, as the film insists, is a distant construction. From afar, it can look clean. Up close, it is compromise, pain, and solitude. It carries a weight the hero cannot set down. It asks more than it gives. Once again, he turns away, not out of indifference, but out of fear. He sends his children away from him. Not only to protect them from the world he inhabits, but to protect himself from seeing who he's become through their eyes. Perhaps that's why he never wanted his son to follow him. He wanted the cycle to end with him. He believed he could carry it all alone, that his choices would contain their damage within his own body. But fate is not so obedient. Life does not bend to the logic of sacrifice. It is only fitting that the life he built, the power, the protection, the violence consumes what he most hoped to preserve. His son is lost to the very world Naicker once vowed to fight. His bond with his daughter splinters under the weight of all that has gone unspoken. He believed that by sending her away, he could silence the questions. That distance could shield them both, from each other, from the past. But truth does not wait at the door. It finds its way in. And in the film's most searing moment, (where Ratnam pays homage to Yash Chopra's Deewaar), his daughter stands before him, questions him about the kind of life he has lived? About what kind of justice leaves bodies in its wake? Naicker, like Vijay in Deewaar, reaches for justification. He speaks of pain, of oppression, of the choices he had to make. He insists it was for others, for those who had no voice. But, like Ravi, she does not accept this. She sees through the worn narratives. She knows that no amount of suffering gives a man the right to remake justice in his own image. That the cost of such power cannot be passed on to others. Also Read | Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam's Nayakan is not timeless, nor has it aged well; let that sink in However, the tragedy of Naicker's life is that it has already happened. The tragedy is not that he failed, but that he believed he could control where the consequences would land. The story of Nayakan remains suspended between two truths: that he lived by a principle meant to help, and that it slowly consumed him. That he rose for his people, and in doing so, lost his place amongst them. That he tried to end a cycle, and could only delay it. Hero. Don. Father. Fugitive. All of them are real. But none of them are enough. And it's here that Mani Ratnam reveals what the film has always been. Not a gangster epic. Not a Tamil Godfather. Not a collection of nods to Salim–Javed. All of that is perfunctory. The real story is something else. It is the story of a man's gradual collapse. A man who believed he was saving others, only to realise too late that all along, he was trying to save himself. From guilt. From doubt. From the unbearable silence within. No wonder the film begins with Naicker as a boy, asking his father what is good and what is bad. No wonder it ends with his grandchild asking him the same question. No wonder the story begins with a child killing a policeman for killing his father. And ends with a policeman's son killing a gangster for the same reason. No wonder, we call it poetic justice.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
TNCC condemns eviction of Tamils from Jangpura area in New Delhi
Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai on Monday condemned the eviction of hundreds of Tamils from Jangpura area in Delhi and demolition of their homes based on a court order. In a statement, Mr. Selvaperunthagai said that most of those who were evicted were engaged in daily wage, domestic work and daily labour. 'When houses are demolished with the help of the police, the education of their children becomes questionable. Women are suffering without security, water and electricity. The Union Government and the BJP government in Delhi have not provided complete relief to the affected people. It is a great injustice to make people move without any solution or prior notice,' he said. Mr. Selvaperunthagai demanded that those displaced should be given accommodation and that employment opportunities should be created in the nearby areas. 'Appropriate compensation should be provided for loss of life and damage to property. The Union Government should understand that the Congress will strongly oppose any action that does not respect the right to life of the Tamils,' he said.
The Print
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Print
Interval or end credits? Why Kamal Haasan may have cast aside dream to become CM, at least for now
On 28 May, the ruling DMK, while announcing candidates for the 19 June Rajya Sabha polls, allotted one seat to MNM, setting the stage for Haasan to enter the Upper House. MNM's influence has since waned, signalling a near end to its role as a competitive political force at the state level. Although the party had not won any seats in Tamil Nadu, it held a minor vote share and carried some weight only because of Haasan's popularity. Chennai: As Makkal Neethi Maiam (MNM) leader Kamal Haasan prepares to enter the Rajya Sabha with the DMK's support, the veteran actor-politician appears to have quietly shelved his once-ambitious dream of becoming chief minister of Tamil Nadu, a vision he boldly championed when he launched his party in 2018. With Haasan now being at the centre, political analysts say while it may help the INDIA bloc overall, it would further diminish his own party's clout in Tamil Nadu politics. 'Even for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he helped a lot of DMK candidates secure a win through his campaign. Although it did not create a big wave, it did add value to the DMK-led alliance in raking up opposition against the BJP-led Union government and the opposition party,' political analyst Raveendran Duraisamy told ThePrint. On 30 May, Haasan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at Anna Arivalayam after the DMK allocated a Rajya Sabha seat to the MNM. Later, Haasan told reporters it was the need of the hour to raise the voice of Tamils at a national level. 'It is not that I have not been speaking for Tamils. My voice has always been for the Tamils and for the first time, it is going to be heard in Parliament.' Asked about his earlier stand against the ruling DMK, he said it was the need of the hour, adding, 'It is needed for the country, hence I have come here.' Haasan had launched the Makkal Needhi Maiam in Madurai district on 21 February, 2018. He decided to go for the torch as his party symbol. During his first speech, he emphasised anti-corruption, welfarism and ideologically neutral politics. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Haasan, without any alliance with any political party, fielded candidates in all 39 parliamentary constituencies in the state. He led the campaign but did not contest from any of the seats. MNM secured a vote share of 3.72 percent. In the run-up to 2021 assembly elections, Haasan declared he would not be joining hands with either of the two larger Dravidian parties. 'Both DMK and AIADMK are looters. By this, I am not saying I am against the Dravidian ideology,' he had said during a campaign in Dharmapuri in January that year. MNM instead joined hands with All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi led by actor-turned politician Sarath Kumar and Indhiya Jananayaka Katchi led by T.R. Pachamuthu alias Paarivendhar. Sarath Kumar later merged his party with the BJP. While MNM contested in 142 seats, its allies contested in 73 seats. This time, Haasan himself contested in Coimbatore South but lost to BJP's Vanathi Srinivasan by a margin of 1,728 votes. MNM secured a vote share of 2.62 percent, but did not win any seats. For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Haasan joined the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance. Although it was initially discussed to allot a seat to MNM from the Congress party's share, sources in MNM said they were keen on contesting on their own symbol rather than contesting on the Congress's symbol. 'The Rajya Sabha seat given now was part of the agreement made between DMK and MNM during the 2024 Lok Sabha election,' an MNM functionary said. Also Read: How Kamal Haasan's Tamil-Kannada remark touched a nerve, reigniting identity war among southern states Why Haasan could not garner public support Cinestars taking the political plunge is not new to Tamil Nadu. Dravidian stalwart, DMK founder and former chief minister and his successor M. Karunanidhi were both script writers in the Tamil film industry. AIADMK founder fondly called MGR, and his successor J. Jayalalithaa too were from Kollywood. Annadurai founded DMK in 1949, while MGR founded AIADMK in 1972. Political analysts ThePrint spoke to said those in the Dravidian parties who came from the cine industry were not just actors or writers, but had been associated with political movements for a very long time, unlike Kamal Haasan. Political analyst Sunilkumar said actors who venture into politics are trying to replicate what MGR did in 1977, by becoming the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. 'What they don't remember is that, even MGR, before starting his own party in 1972, was part of the DMK and part of the Dravidian movement since his early cine days. All the Dravidian leaders have been part of politics much before they ventured into politics,' the assistant professor of political science department at Hindustan University said. Duraisamy pointed out that not contesting in all 234 assembly constituencies in 2021 was Haasan's first misstep. 'Even by contesting limited seats, he was able to garner between 2-3 percent of votes. Had he contested in all the constituencies, he might have had a better chance for a better negotiation during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.' Sunilkumar said Haasan failed to capitalise on his popularity. 'Kamal had a support base who were an urban educated crowd, lacking the understanding of the state's social structure. Kamal, as a leader of a political party, could not politicise them, which costs him now, losing his ambition of becoming chief minister.' (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Kamal Haasan set to enter Rajya Sabha with DMK's backing, party also names its own 3 candidates
