On 20 April, several bulldozers entered the Jahangirpuri neighbourhood in Delhi with police personnel and demolished shops, homes, and other structures. The demolition began around 10 in the morning and went on till after noon. The Supreme Court had issued directives for status quo to be maintained in the area at 11.
Several Bollywood celebrities like actor Swara Bhasker and filmmaker Onir have reacted to the demolition in Jahangirpuri.
Richa Chadha commented on a journalist, Shyam Meera Singh’s tweet, who wrote about CPM leader Brinda Karat's effort to stop the bulldozers. Richa shared the tweet and wrote, "Where are the others???"
Richa Chadha
Photo: Twitter
Kanika Dhillon, the screenwriter for Manmarziyaan, also took to Twitter to express her displeasure. She posted a poem about how everyone is reluctant to speak about the demolition, with the caption, "Ek bulldozer ki choti si kahaani."
Check out the poem below.
In a separate tweet, she wrote, "If it’s true- ek community ko target karke, unke ghar/dukaane girayi jaa rahi hain- toh yeh bulldozer bahut bhari padega. Humari history. constitution. Conscience pe. (If it's true that one community is being targeted and their homes/shops are being demolished, then this bulldozer will weigh heavy on our history, our constitution, and conscience)."
She added, "Umarein lagti hai ek ghar/dukaan banane mein. Ek second lagta hai logon ki zindagiyon pe bulldozer chalane mein. (It takes years to build a shop or house. It takes a second for people to run a bulldozer over people's lives.)"
Filmmaker Onir also took to Twitter to express his support for the families in Jahangirpuri. He wrote, "Can’t imagine what these families are going thru … this cruel delhi heat , and a home destroyed … no responsibility of the state to rehab those displaced . We have become such a heartless society that looks for justification to inflict pain on the “other"."
Swara Bhasker also wrote while reacting to another tweet, "This. This pain of the poor & marginalised of #India is what sections of our public, and most Godi media anchors are cackling about and cheering! And some are blaming the victims because they are largely Muslim. That’s how dead we are as a society!"
No more demolitions can be carried out until the Supreme Court's next hearing, scheduled in two weeks.
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