𒀰Some residents of North East Delhi feel disillusioned. The scars of the 2020 riots still linger, and so does the feeling of abandonment by those in power, even as Delhi gears up for the upcoming elections.
"After the riots, we needed help to rebuild, but no one came. Now they come asking for votes,” says Mosin Ali, a shopkeeper in Maujpur, the first reported site of the 2020 Delhi riots🌳 where violence had erupted between pro and anti-CAA protestors.
﷽Ali remembers rushing home from his shop that fateful evening on February 23. “I just wanted to get out of the streets,” he recalls. He adds, “I had a feeling something would happen—there was a speech that day by a politician too and I had a bad feeling I remember..” On that day, BJP Minister Kapil Misra had led a gathering in Maujpur Chowk in support of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a fact that is not mentioned in the Delhi police chargesheet. The chargesheet has however alleged that the pelters were “a group of 200-300 Muslims”. The report of this incident which came to the police around 5:30 pm that evening.
Five years later, the people of North East Delhi𒁏 continue to live under the shadow of the February 2020 communal riots, in which at least 53 people died while hundreds were injured and thousands displaced. Jaffrabad, Maujpur and Seelampur were among the worst affected. While residents continue to rebuild homes and shops, many say their livelihoods were permanently destroyed.
ꦜ“It is not just about rebuilding my shop; it is about the community as well. I used to live here, but now I only have my store here. My family had to move because I have two young daughters and I couldn’t risk them again,” says 55-year-old Umaid Thakur, who runs an electrical store in Seelampur.
🙈As the Delhi Assembly polling date draws near, political parties have been forced to contend with North East Delhi as a contentious and critical constituency for the battle for control of the Capital city. While people living here are still scarred because of the communal riots that took place five years ago, the residents also have other civil grievances such as lack of care for infrastructure maintenance and increasing unemployment.
🎉With an electoral size of over 2.38 million voters, politicians can hardly afford to ignore those demanding answers for the area’s long-standing challenges.
Echoes of A Troubled Past
Recent incidents like the March 2024 shooting 🍷near Brahmpuri Pulia that killed a 24-year-old man and left one injured only serve to increase anxiety among residents. The victims, residents of Jaffrabad, had prior criminal cases. People claim the law-and-order situation in the area has been getting worse.
ꦇShakuntala, 75, and her family have been living in Jaffrabad since she was 30. Her son graduated from the district government school and now her granddaughter studies in a convent school in North Delhi. She didn’t know the victims of the shooting, but says she fears for her family every time they’re out after dark. “There are so many unemployed young men with bad intentions. I always tell my son not to let our daughter out at night.”
Bad Maintenance of Infrastructure
▨Residents of North East Delhi don’t seem to have a particular party in mind for the elections. Their grievances—lack of basic infrastructure, inadequate sanitation and poor road conditions—have been ignored by all successive governments.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Tiwari, who is the incumbent MP, says, “development is a continuous process.” At a rally he addressed recently, he claimed that the BJP ൲has initiated several projects, and with continued support, the party aims to resolve the remaining issues. However, the residents say his tenure showed no tangible progress.
꧂“I’ve been living here for 22 years, and nothing ever changes,” says Rana Bed, a resident of Jaffrabad. “Every election, they promise better schools, better roads, hospitals and better safety. But where is it? we are waiting.”
ℱDilip Pandey of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) says his campaign is focused on improving local governance. “Our priority is to ensure that basic amenities reach every household,” he said, while adding that “regularisation of unauthorised colonies” was on the top of AAP’s agenda.
Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar’s stand is less clear, though people say it’s clear who he is running against. “He talks, but mostly he talks about how (Manoj) Tiwariji𒆙 was absent during this time here,” says Thakaur, who claims he will be voting for the BJP as they have shown results when it comes to development. Kumar’s claim that “the people of North East Delhi are saying that Tiwari has not been seen in 10 years,” seems to leave Thakur unphased. He laughs and says, “maybe he’s not seen because he is working?”
𒁏As North East Delhi prepares to cast their votes, residents are coming to the realisation that a brighter future will not come from lofty promises. There is an atmosphere of weariness in the area and as Amina, a 20-year-old Seelampur college student, says: “Our representatives need to listen to our problems. We don’t need people who will just talk and do nothing.”
