Homeless And Alone - “This Is Injustice, I Am Heartbroken”

Wakeel Hassan was hailed as the national hero for saving lives just recently. In a matter of weeks, 45-year-old Hassan and his family have been rendered homeless and are trying to survive without any support. They have no option but to sit outside his demolished home in Delhi’s Khajuri Khas.

Hassan was hailed as a hero when he led the operation to rescue the workers who were trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand three months ago.

On February 28, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished his house, calling it illegal. Speaking to The Citizen outside his house, Hassan said that he is being targeted.

“My name is Wakeel Hassan and that should be enough to make people understand why it happened to me. When I risked my life to save those men from the tunnel, this was the last thing I was expecting,” he said.

According to Hassan, his two children were met with brute force from the Delhi Police and DDA, as he and his wife were not at home at that time.

“When I came running, I told them who I was but they ignored me and said they were here to do their job. When I, and even my children did not budge, they forced me into a van and kept me at the police station like a criminal,” he said.

Hassan’s house that was demolished. Photo: Nikita Jain

Visibly upset, Hassan, who was surrounded by neighbours, said that he did not ask for a medal but merely his home. Hassan has also alleged that the DDA did not give any prior notice to him before demolishing only his house in the area.

However, the DDA has stood by the action and in a statement said that, “in its role as an authority, it cannot allow encroachment on its land or unauthorised constructions in its development areas”.

The DDA also said Hassan was aware of his house’s “status of encroachment” as it had been previously removed in 2016 and was encroached upon again in 2017.

Asserting that it was a “routine encroachment removal drive”, the DDA said that its demolition action did not “target any particular individual”.

Hassan said that his identity as a Muslim is the reason why he was single handedly targeted. “What they did to Kafeel Khan for saving so many lives, I feel the same right now,” he said.

Hassan’s neighbours also shared their anguish over the incident and called it unfortunate. “It makes us wonder if this is what they do to people who contribute for the nation, then maybe there is no point in doing anything,” one of the neighbours, sitting beside Hassan and who did not want to be named said.

Hassan said that all his neighbours, who belong to various communities, support him. Bringing food and other essentials, the local people are helping the Hassan family, who have nowhere to go.

“This is injustice and I am heartbroken,” Hassan said.

Hassan and his wife are living in a makeshift tent outside their demolished house. Photo: Nikita Jain

While Hassan repeated that he tried to tell the officials who he was and what he had done, the DDA in its statement claimed that they were not aware of Hassan’s contributions in Uttarakhand “at no point of time before or during the demolition exercise”.

The DDA in its statement, said that the demolition drive was carried out on land that was “part of planned development land”. The authority added that when Hassan’s role in the tunnel rescue operation came to light, officials made alternate arrangements of shelter for his family and went to the site and contacted him.

However, he “refused” the relief measure offered to him, and “demanded a permanent house either at the same location or at any location in the same vicinity”, the DDA stated.

As reports of Hassan’s demolition went viral, DDA offered to move him temporarily to a flat, which he denied. “First, it is temporary and second the place they were offering me was in Narela, which is far away from my house. Why should I move away from a place I spent 32 years at,” he asked.

He also alleged that some other temporary locations were also chosen for his family. “They demolish my house and then want to wipe off their hands by sending us to temporary accommodations. My children go to schools here, I have my work here and they want us to stop everything and leave,” Hassan averred.

Meanwhile, the DDA, has claimed, “The family (of Hassan) was in the know of their status of encroachment”. Hassan was “also aware of the encroachment on the land” which was removed earlier in 2016 but it was encroached by him again in 2017.

“In 2016, the DDA, initiating a demolition drive, reclaimed its three land parcels from encroachment (from the area),” the statement said, adding, during inspections in 2017, it was found that two individuals were “again encroaching two of these three land parcels”.

“This serious violation was promptly reported to the police, triggering a scheduled demolition programme set for June 2018,” the DDA said.

However, the execution of the demolition programme faced “significant challenges as the family, identified as the encroachers, resisted the enforcement. Explanations were also sought from errant officials for having allowed such re-encroachments,” the statement said.

Demolitions were again scheduled in September and December in 2022. These attempts of demolitions were “once again thwarted by the women of the family who attempted to inflict physical harm upon themselves and threatened self-immolation after barricading themselves within the premises,” the DDA claimed in the statement.

All these attempts for demolishing this property were “well within the knowledge of Hassan and his family and were aware about their status as encroachers,” it said.

“The structures adjoining the site where demolition has been undertaken fall within the boundary of Shri Ram Colony, Rajeev Nagar, Delhi 94, which is notified under the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorized Colonies) Regulations, 2019, at Sr No. 625, Colony Registration No. 614 of Annexure II of these Regulations,” the DDA added.

In a recent court order, it has been observed that local authorities, including DDA cannot allow the “menace of encroachments” as well as illegal unauthorised constructions, the statement said. However, given the contribution made by Hassan in the rescue operation of the workers in Uttarakhand, the “DDA will still continue with its efforts to provide its help to the family” of Hassan, it added.

The demolition team and local police reached the location and requested Hassan’s family to “vacate the encroached area”, the DDA said. “After affording sufficient time to (Hassan) for removal of their belongings from the encroached structure, the encroached area was cleared,” the statement said.

But Hassan has alleged that his children were “misbehaved with” and he was taken to the police station.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena has assured a house and adequate compensation for Hassan.

“I am still waiting for these promises to be fulfilled. As of now, I am waiting for the officials to make a move,” Hassan said.

He added that he will sit on a hunger strike with the men who he led the tunnel operation with, if the authorities fail to fulfil their duty.