CPI(M) delegation meets rat-hole miner Wakeel Hasan's family

That house has been demolished. Hasan, who was part of a team that rescued 41 labourers who got trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand last year, and his family members have spent two nights in the open after their house was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority DDA on Wednesday.The LG lieutenant governor says, we will re-construct the house, but the reality is that no representative of the LG has visited them.

A CPI(M) delegation, led by the party's politburo member Brinda Karat, on Friday met rat-hole miner Wakeel Hasan and his family, whose house has been demolished by authorities in the Khajuri Khas area of northeast Delhi.

After meeting Hasan and his family members, Karat said, ''It is astonishing that in this entire colony, Sri Ram Colony, Sonia Vihar colony nearby and many other colonies that are so-called illegal encroachment ... only one house was targeted, that is the house of the labourer who risked his life to rescue 41 other labourers.... That house has been demolished.'' Hasan, who was part of a team that rescued 41 labourers who got trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand last year, and his family members have spent two nights in the open after their house was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday.

''The LG (lieutenant governor) says, we will re-construct the house, but the reality is that no representative of the LG has visited them. (North East Delhi MP) Manoj Tiwari says we are sorry this happened, we will construct the house, but he has not visited the family. Their MLA lives 10 minutes away, but has not visited the spot. No representative from the government has come here so far,'' Karat said.

''They are sitting here, they have a 14-year-old daughter.... They say sabka sath, sabka vishwas.... A 14-year-old has not been able to appear in her exam because her house has been demolished, but she is educating other children here. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and his team should come here and learn what sabka vishwas, sabka sath means,'' the Left leader added.

Karat said the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will help the family if the administration does not step up to provide a house to them.

''The Delhi unit of the CPI(M) has said if the LG does not reconstruct their house, it will do it,'' she said.

The other delegation members who met Hasan and his family included CPI(M) Delhi state committee secretary KM Tiwari, secretariat member and Janwadi Mahila Samiti secretary Asha Sharma and state committee member Pushpendra.

In a statement, the Delhi unit of the Left party alleged that Hasan's house was the only one to be targeted.

''This targeted action is an example of DDA's callousness and corruption. It should be noted that DDA works under the central government and the lieutenant governor is its chairman. It is clear from this that the Modi government's claims about development for all are false. In reality, its politics and policies are against the poor, Dalits and minorities. Instead of providing houses for the deprived, it revels in demolishing their houses with bulldozers,'' Tiwari was quoted as saying in the statement.

''The CPI(M) delegation promised to support the struggle to ensure justice to Wakeel Hasan and his family. It also provided immediate financial assistance to the victim and his family,'' the statement said.

The Left party demanded that the DDA construct a house for Hasan at the site where his demolished house stood.

''Along with this, immediate arrangements should be made for his stay until the completion of construction. The Modi government's indifference towards the housing of the poor can also be seen in the demolitions in Sangam Vihar a day earlier. The process of uprooting lakhs of poor people in Delhi without any alternative housing scheme should be stopped immediately,'' Tiwari said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)