What’s missing from Delhi roads? Beggars

Thousands of people disappeared off the capital’s streets overnight — and nobody knows where they went.

Thousands of people disappeared off the capital’s streets overnight — and nobody knows where they went.

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A sizeable population comprising beggars, semi-skilled and casual labourers was systematically hounded, harassed and threatened with dire consequences before being packed-off to their home states by the Delhi Police on the eve of the Commonwealth Games.

“The process began seven months ago with the police descending on areas with considerable beggar and casual labourer population such as Nizamuddin Dargah, Chandni Chowk, Hanuman Setu and Paharganj,” said Paramjeet Kaur, director of Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an NGO that works for the rights of the
city’s homeless.

The harassment was intensified a week ago forcing more than 40,000 homeless residents of Delhi to leave in seven
days’ time.

“While most of the beggars in the Paharganj area were rounded-up and sent to a vast, open ground adjacent to Nizamuddin Dargah, those without identification cards landing up at the New Delhi Railway Station were pushed into the same train and told to go away,” a volunteer from the Jagruk Nagrik Suraksha Sangh (JNSS) said.

“They were here (Nizamuddin Dargah) for just a single night. Very early on Saturday morning, I saw a lot of police officers waking them up and herding them onto trucks. There were about six trucks. They left and haven’t been since,” 25-year-old Mohammad Iqbal Qasim, a resident of the Nizamuddin Railway Colony, said.

Thousands rounded-up by the police after having combed the entire city were lodged at an open ground near the Nizamuddin Dargah till Friday evening.
“There is no drive to remove pavement dwellers or beggars approved by us that has been carried out. The police must answer where they are,” Manoj Parida, principal secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare, said.

“We are pre-occupied with securing a mega, world-class event and have more pressing matters at hand than removing beggars or encroachers. No such drive, however, has been carried out by us,” Rajan Bhagat, Delhi Police spokesperson, said.
Ashray believes that while most of the homeless have relocated to adjacent areas such as Rishikesh. Many, who are believed to be hiding in the capital itself, will go hungry till the Games come to a close.