Amid protests, desperate cries, lathicharging, Khori being razed

Faridabad: On Thursday, as the Faridabad Municipal Corporation continued demolishing Khori village, their exercise was this time faced with angry protesters who had tried to barricade the entry points to their village, widespread protests and desperate appeals from residents.

This, however, did not deter the authorities from continuing their operation on orders of the Supreme Court, as the earthmovers and bulldozers broke the barricades assisted by law enforcement officials who were lathicharging resisting residents, including women.

Thursday's demolition drive hit commercial establishments in the village as well.

The confrontation between residents and the public agencies began when in order to stop officials from entering Khori, certain residents had barricaded the entry and exit points of the 190-acre village. But by 10:30 am the earthmovers entered Sardar chowk and Islam chowk where they began razing structures. On their way in to Khori, law enforcement officials lathicharged protestors.

Several public officials could also be seen brushing aside the pleas of hundreds of women, who, with folded hands, urged the authorities to not destroy their homes. There were certain incidents in which the law enforcement officials were seen physically assaulting protestors who tried hard enough to save their homes from getting destroyed.

Significantly, media persons were prohibited from reporting the drive from the area where the demolition was taking place. Law enforcement officials claimed there were instances of stone-pelting in the village and that media persons were prohibited from entering the area due to security reasons.

"I am financially not strong and I only depend on my livelihood from this place which is now destroyed. Where will I and my family go now? Incidents, where people like us are lathi-charged for saving our homes, give us a feeling that life is and will always be unfair to poor people. They will continue to be exploited by the rich, "said Rameena, a resident of Khori.

With a few days left to comply with the Supreme Court order of razing all the illegal structures at Khori, the process of destruction began from early morning and continued till evening.

Though an official number of structures destroyed have still not been given by the officials, according to locals there were more than 600 structures that were destroyed.

While displaced villagers have been promised government flats under the EWS category in the Dabua Colony and Bapu Nagar areas but for this, the state government has placed a slew of riders, any one of which could prevent tens of thousands from even applying for the rehabilitation programme.