AAP, Congress giving communal colour to anti-encroachment drives in Delhi: BJP

"The action taken in Jahangirpuri was not against a religion. Today’s action is not the first anti-encroachment drive; close to 40 such actions have been taken in the past one-and-a-half months in various parts of the city. But oppn parties are giving it a communal colour,” Delhi BJP chief said.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta on Monday alleged that AAP and Congress are protecting Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya living in Shaheen Bagh and other areas of the city even as residents of the southeast Delhi locality questioned the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s intention behind a planned anti-encroachment demolition drive on Monday.

Visuals from Shaheen Bagh Police Station. (ANI Twitter)

“We have been saying this since the start that the AAP is trying to protect Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya. Encroachment on public land has nothing to do with any religion or community. The action taken in Jahangirpuri was not against a religion. Today’s action is not the first anti-encroachment drive; close to 40 such actions have been taken in the past one-and-a-half months in various parts of the city. But opposition parties are giving it a communal colour,” Gupta said at a press conference.

The AAP did not respond to the allegations on Monday. On April 20, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asked the BJP why it allowed illegal migrants settle across India. “I want to pose two questions to the BJP. For the last eight years, why did you get Rohingyas and Bangladeshis illegally settled across India? We want numbers of such people settled,” Sisodia had said.

Gupta also wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana and SDMC commissioner Gyanesh Bharti on Monday, asking them to take action against people for obstructing official work. The SDMC filed a complaint against Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan and local councillor Wajid Khan at the Shaheen Bagh police station.

The Congress slammed the action in Shaheen Bagh. Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar said, “It is strange that the BJP is suddenly detecing ‘encroachments’ on government lands after ruling the MCDs for 15 years, even as it was nurturing the unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters as their vote bank all these years.”

Mohammad Anees, 48, a resident of Shaheen Bagh G-block, who was among the people who had gathered against the corporation’s drive on Monday, said, “The intention behind this drive is wrong. We are being targeted because Shaheen Bagh was at the centre of anti-CAA protests. Entire Delhi has problem of encroachment why are they selectively targeting our locality.”

Mohammad Shaifq Anwar, another local resident, alleged that the drive was being carried out to vitiate the atmosphere and to divert attention from the “real issues”. “They are targeting this area so that people do no talk about unemployment, cost of cooking gas cylinder reaching Rs1000, and similar problems facing the common man. You would never see wards of politicians participating in religious processions and other such activities. Their sons an daughters are placed well, and are studying abroad,” Anwar said.