Social activist Medha Patkar said she did not expect that the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, headed by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, would carry out eviction of working class people like the one that happened recently in Govindasamy Nagar.
Addressing the media during a protest here to condemn such evictions, the convener of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) cited the recent evictions that happened in Jahangirpuri in Delhi and said that bulldozers had become a weapon to oppress minorities and other marginalised communities in the country.
She expressed disappointment that eviction was happening even in Tamil Nadu in violation of human rights, which, she said, resulted in immolation by V.G. Kannaiyan, a resident of Elango Street in Govindasamy Nagar. She visited his family on Monday.
On the government’s claim that it was merely obeying the orders of the Supreme Court, she alleged that the government failed to argue the case properly and expose the vested interests of a businessman who had filed the public interest litigation to remove the tenements in Govindasamy Nagar that were located on the land classified as “watercourse poramboke land.”
Citing an earlier affidavit by a former Principal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development department stating that the businessman had filed the case to increase the real estate value of his property located behind the tenements, she said this line of argument was not pursued strongly.
Arguing that it was wrong to evict people living in a place for more than 50 years, she said that the government should prioritise in situ development or issuance of patta for those residing in places like Govindasamy Nagar.
R. Geetha of Unorganised Workers’ Federation and residents of Govindasamy Nagar took part in the protest.
Ms. Patkar took part in another event in the city organised to protest against the labour codes being introduced by the Union government.
