This Article is From Apr 21, 2022

"Heart Wrenching": Boy Collects Coins At Father's Razed Shop In Delhi's Jahangirpuri

The Supreme Court intervened to stop the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri and ordered that status quo should be maintained.

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India News Edited by

The eight-year-old boy collecting coins in Jahangirpuri.

The photo of a boy collecting piles from rubble in Jahangirpuri in Delhi, where bulldozers demolished structures, has moved the internet. The boy, believed to be eight, also collected some tetra packs from his father's demolished juice shop on Wednesday.

The photo has been posted on Twitter and various other social media platforms, with people tagging handles of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi Police.

What happened in Jahangirpuri?

Bulldozers were sent to the northern Delhi locality on Wednesday, days after communal violence in the area. They tore down several concrete and temporary structures as part of the anti-encroachment drive launched by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

In the operation, which continued for about two hours, several shops were pulled down amid scene of chaos.

A vendor whose shop was among those razed by NDMC bulldozers told tNDTV that it was allotted to him by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in 1977 and he kept pleading before the officials but nobody listened to him.

Supreme Court's intervention

The Supreme Court had to intervene twice to stop the drive after it took cognizance of a petition filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind that claimed buildings of Muslim riots accused were razed.

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The top court had ordered that status quo should be maintained, but the demolition continued even after the order.

The court also said it would take a serious view of the demolition that was carried out even after its order was communicated to the NDMC mayor.

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The Supreme Court later ordered a two-week-long stay on the demolition drive.

What NDMC says?

The NDMC claimed that he demolition drive was conducted after an order from the Delhi High Court. But, after Supreme Court's intervention, the civic body's mayor Raja Iqbal Singh said they will not conduct the anti-encroachment drive in Jahangirpuri.

He, however, asserted that anti-encroachment drives will continue in other areas under its jurisdiction.

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