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ThMen from Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited came to the Pakistani-Hindu settlement of Adarsh Nagar in Delhi to install electric poles. Some eyes are moist, some voices are shed with tears of joy, and neighbors, brothers and sisters and friends and yes But the rivals hugged each other to win.
It was the end of a decade of darkness in the heart of the capital. Almost 4,000 people live here without electricity.
Pakistani-Hindu refugees in Delhi show community story Another, which has a political character but no policy. The persecution faced by minorities in Muslim-majority countries, especially Hindus, is the main argument of the supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act. India wants to roll out the red carpet for Hindus who are persecuted by their neighbors.
But basically, the community lives in neglect and poverty. Just another victim of Partition; Their situation is similar to the refugee colonies in the years after partition. Yes ‘Sovereign God’ moto has not extended them the way they were made to struggle.
The road to electricity
New switchboards have been installed in every shanty. People rush to get an electrician to wire the house or sit in front of the transformer installed in the colony.
A group of people enjoyed the pleasant winter sun while breaking groundnut shells outside Nehru Lal’s house. Suleimani chai is being served while everyone watches the installation work.
Dressed in a Pathani suit and a soft brown jacket, Nehru sat intently, gazing at the scene, his right elbow bent. Today, he is nostalgic about the long journey that led to this moment. “Blood flies won’t hurt when we can generate momentum for these fans,” he said.
This is an exciting day for the 6-foot tall moustachio man, the head of the Pakistani-Hindu settlement in Adarsh Nagar. Almost a decade after he reclaimed this wasteland as a new home for 35 other Pakistani-Hindu families in 2013, now behind the Majlis Park metro station, they are about to get electricity. “Things may not be going well for you, but we are making great progress,” he said. “When we first came here in June of 2013, we slept on the ground, which would The heat that causes blisters all over the body. The police will come, destroy our house, and we have to rebuild. And now, the Tatas are here to install electricity, it’s a big win for us,” he continued, beaming.
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Decades of neglect
Nehru was a successful fruit merchant in Hyderabad, Pakistan, but he said, something changed in the air of Pakistan after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1991. “Then things were not the same, were they?!” He said when asked what motivated him to leave everything behind and cross the border. , 66 years after being carved to cut India into two parts.
Pakistani Hindus settled in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar district in June 2013. About 500 people left Sindh’s Hyderabad district and traveled to Karachi. Then they boarded the now stopped train to Jodhpur, the Thar Express. From Jodhpur, they came to Delhi. Initially, Nahar Singh, a Jat from Haryana gave them shelter in his two houses in Brijwasan where they stayed for three months, and started looking for a permanent place to settle.
Some families chose land at Majnu Ka Tila, some reached the Yamuna River, and a group of 35 families led by Nehru chose a barren land in Adarsh Nagar. It was not a pleasant stay. Until now, the families have been living in what can only be described as an empty garbage dump. Electricity, in a house made of straw. The air here stinks of damp garbage and mosquitoes that carry dengue fever and malaria are dancing on everyone’s heads. Snakes are regular visitors, chasing mice.
The Delhi High Court earlier this month directed Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited to supply electricity to the colony within a month. . The work was completed quickly, the wires surrounded the colony, people installed switchboards in their houses and they were just waiting for the last light bulb.
To date, the colony survives on solar energy, which residents say is only It is enough to use a flashlight and a fan, along with two flashlights. And this was available to them in 2016. “A non-resident Indian donated solar energy infrastructure to our colony, with which we have been fighting darkness for the past six years,” Nehru said.
Now, Nehru and the residents are fighting for access to clean water, concrete roads, education and most importantly citizenship.
While Nehru did not feel entitled to ‘help’, he seemed to resent the way various organizations were treating the ever-growing community here. “No one supports us wholeheartedly, you know? They take us old clothes and cheap food to survive, take pictures and disappear into thin air,” he said.
While Nehru was a supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and identified as a ‘Modi Bhakt’, he showed disillusionment with right-wing organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. “VHP is an international organization. Can’t they build us a pucca house in Delhi?” he said.
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Settlement
Families who came to India in search of a better life were left behind.
One enters the slum by crossing a mountain of garbage where cows and buffaloes search for food and aggressive dogs bark at you. When in the slums, one has to watch out for the huge swarms of mosquitoes that hover overhead while taking each step carefully lest the snakes pass by. No access to clean water, no electricity. Not even access to a clean bathroom. For more than 800 people, there are only four to five toilets in every corner of the slum, forcing many to go out into the open at night to relieve themselves.
“Rats are not considered a problem here. If you shake some of these walls a snake or two will fall down. Snake bites, cats and cases of dengue and malaria are painful here,” added Hari Om. He is a social worker who has been working in the area since 2013.
Visible from the subway station Majlis Park is a large place made of kuchcha houses, children are busy making wooden houses to live in, when they should be playing with toys.
Residents said that this place was a wasteland and garbage that they would later discover belonged to the ministry. defend the country. At that time there were 35 families, now the colony has increased to 160 families. On average, 35-40 families leave their homes in Pakistan for India every year and many of them make their homes here in this settlement, according to Hari Om.
Most of the men in the settlement are vendors who sell cheap mobile devices in nearby markets.
Nehru was also actively involved in helping Hindus stranded in Pakistan to get visas, come to Delhi and then find ways to earn a living here. “This is the cause I have dedicated my life to,” he said.
Reports of Hindus leaving Pakistan for India due to inflation and harassment religion “Hindu girls are kidnapped the minute they reach maturity and they convert to Islam,” said Jamuna, a housewife, “that is among the many problems that Hindus face. But dekho na, hume sadak se utha ke kachre mein daal diya (They helped us off the road, only to take us to the garbage),” she said.
These families do not have the right to vote and they are not eligible for subsidies. Their children study in tuition organized by a local NGO in the colony, and for a community with a population of more than 800 there are only four or five toilets in the four corners. “Usually we go to the bathroom in the open at night. We get infected if we use these toilets often,” said a 23-year-old woman who did not want to be named. Hari Om said some children have started going to a nearby school run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
This community of Hindus from Pakistan has been continuously brought in during the election season and campaigning but it suffers from apathy from the government. “No one from the Delhi government has ever come here to listen to our problems. If we had the support of political representatives, it would not have taken nine years to get access to electricity,” Hari Om said. “The only political party that visits is the Bharatiya Janata Party, especially during festivals to celebrate with us and the children,” he said.
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Our country
But regardless of the hardships experienced in the colony, there is a deep feeling of patriotism in India. “Pakistan is a Muslim country, India is our country. We are happy to be here,” said Jamuna, 30, who moved from Sindh five years ago. That.
Adults carry more weight with their words than children who let their pain out. Spilled in a moment of innocence. Eight-year-old Aasha talks about the friends she left behind in Pakistan. “I really miss Aishwarya, Neeta and Bharti. I used to play Kho-Kho with them,” she said while wiping her tears.
Aasha insists that her life in India is no different from what it used to be on the other side of the the border “It’s just that I live in a house made of bricks, here I Live in a shanty. I used to go to school and I had more places to play. We still have air conditioners in our house, here we only have fans. Other than that, it’s the same,” she said.
Even Nehru felt homesick, “Don’t ask me what I left behind, ask who we all left behind. Parents, children, friends and relatives. We don’t visit there if our loved ones die, it’s Really painful, you know,” he said. “Forgetting even friends and family for a minute. Of course, I miss the land where I spent so much time. It’s not home. But It was once.”
This is the better life he left his home for, 12-year-old Arjun must wonder as he scavenges and scavenges to help him build his new home.
The boy arrived in Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar from Pakistan’s Hyderabad a few days ago with his two siblings and parents, but he did not want to be caught on camera. He said, “If my friends in Pakistan see what I’m doing, they will laugh at me. Of course I’m embarrassed!” I don’t want them to see me in the dumps,” he continued. That was the India Arjun found himself in, one he couldn’t be proud of.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
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