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A delegation of the CPI leaders led by party general secretary D. Raja visited Jahangirpuri in Delhi on Friday where on the orders of the BJP-run municipal corporation a demolition drive was carried out. Mr. Raja and his colleagues were not allowed to reach the site of demolition by the Delhi police.
They stayed at the site for nearly two hours trying to convince the police to allow them to visit the affected houses and the persons whose homes and shops were demolished. The police citing the law and order problem did not let them past the barricades.
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“We are not here to create a law & order problem. We are here to uphold the law. The Delhi police come directly under the charge of Home Minister Amit Shah. Therefore he must be held accountable for contempt of court considering the demolition went on despite the Supreme Court orders,” Mr. Raja told The Hindu.
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He also said the question of illegal encroachment is superfluous. “Everyone deserves a roof over their heads to afford them some dignity. And it is the government’s abject failure if they are unable to provide housing to the poor. When they cannot provide the citizens of India with basic amenities, what right do they have to brand their homes as illegal encroachment and demolish them,” Mr. Raja said. The demolition drive, he said, was in fact, the demolition of law and the Constitution.