CPI(M-L) Delhi secy sits on hunger strike demanding immediate relief for slum dwellers

CPI(M-L) Delhi State Secretary Ravi Rai and five residents of the slums encroaching on railway land, set to be demolished under the orders of the Supreme Court, started a 48-hour 'warning hunger strike' in Wazirpur on Monday demanding immediate relief for the dwellers of these shanties.

CPI(M-L) Delhi State Secretary Ravi Rai and five residents of the slums encroaching on railway land, set to be demolished under the orders of the Supreme Court, started a 48-hour 'warning hunger strike' in Wazirpur on Monday demanding immediate relief for the dwellers of these shanties. The top court on August 31 had directed the removal of 48,000 slum dwellings along the 140-km length of railway tracks in Delhi within three months and said there shall not be any kind of political interference in execution of the plan.

The protestors demanded that the Centre and the state government take concrete steps to provide immediate relief to slum dwellers and urged them to pass a statutory order in this regard. They also demanded that the relevant authorities provide proper housing in the place of inhabitation and also ensure land title to all slum dwellers. In a statement, Sucheta De, the left party's central committee member, on behalf of CPI-ML Delhi State Committee, said that in Monday's hearing, the apex court has not directed anything.

"Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for Govt of India has told the court that no demolition will take place without till the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Urban Development work out details in four weeks. It still means that at the end of four weeks the juggis might be demolished. "Our 'warning hunger strike' is to send out a message to the governments that slum dwellers will not sit and watch their rights snatched away. They will continue to agitate and protest till the Government of India and Government of Delhi ensure their demands," the statement said.