NEW DELHI—On April 20, Rahima Bibi stood helpless under the blazing sun as a bulldozer tore through her small tea stall in Jahangirpuri, a neighborhood in New Delhi’s northwest. Rahima had been running the stall for over a decade to support her family. As the bulldozer moved from her shop to mow down another stall, Rahima tried to rush to the remnants of her shop. But the police guarding the giant yellow bulldozer did not let her.
Hours later, when the bulldozer engines and blades had come to a halt, Rahima ran to the rubble and rummaged through it to salvage whatever she could: juice bottles, tea packets, and glasses. Everything else had been ravaged. Around 20 shops were bulldozed that day, despite the Indian Supreme Court’s order the same day to stop the demolition drive.
