"...This is what I get in return?": Uttarkashi tunnel rat hole-miner's house razed by DDA
New Delhi: Months after the nationwide celebration of the successful rescue of Uttarakashi laborers from the Silkayara tunnel, the home of the rat-hole miner Wakeel Hassan who led the operation to save the trapped workers was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday.
Expressing despair, the miner, Wakeel Hassan, stated, "Despite contributing significantly to the country through my work, this is the treatment I receive. My children are now on the streets, and I don't know where to take them. It's challenging to earn a daily wage, and building another home seems impossible. The only option left seems to be ending our lives. Should we resort to that?"
"When I questioned them about encroaching on my land, they provided no substantial proof. Instead, I was taken to the police station with my wife and children. I won't move from here until I receive assurance from the government. All I want is my house," Hassan emphasized.
Staging a protest over the demolition of his house by the DDA, Hassan said, "I feel sorry for them and their mindset. After demolishing my home, valued at 1-1.5 crores, they are attempting to relocate me to the Narela area, where not even dogs roam."
Munna Qureshi, another member of the Uttarkashi rescue team, said that "The DDA people did not even give notice. They directly came here and started demolishing the house. When we raised our voices, we were sent to the police station. Today we have lost all hopes. When all international teams could not rescue the labourers, we went ahead and rescued our fellow labourers in 27 hours, but the DDA did not even take 17 minutes to raze the house".
Meanwhile, Senior Aam Adami Party (AAP) leader Atishi earlier accused the BJP-ruled central government of allegedly hatching a "conspiracy" to demolish all slums in the city and said that her party will not allow Centre to 'drive thousands of families into homelessness' till it is in power.
"Ahead of elections, the BJP always promises people to give them houses in the same place as their existing houses, but as soon as the elections get over, all the promises fall flat. Slums at various places across Delhi are being demolished because the Prime Minister hates slums, and according to him, slums cause him embarrassment in front of his foreign friends. But till the time Arvind Kejriwal is CM of Delhi, we will not let the BJP demolish any house in the slums of Delhi," the Delhi minister said.
She also alleged that the BJP-led DDA demolished the houses of 300 families in Sunder Nagar, leaving them 'homeless in this spine-chilling cold.
"This is all happening because the PM doesn't like slums. He is ashamed of the slums in front of his foreign friends. That is why he wants to get rid of jhuggis in Delhi," she added.
