Squeezed between the heaps of scrap and drains are the kutcha houses where two hundred families of Hindu refugees from Pakistan have been living in extremely adverse conditions in North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar colony for over eight years now. When an OpIndia team reached the settlement of Pakistani Hindu refugees in the capital, all we saw were heaps of garbage, filth, drain water flowing through the dark and narrow lanes, stinking mud swarming with flies, mosquitoes, maggots and strayed stinky pigs adding to the squalor.
बिजली की समस्या से सिर्फ बीमारी ही नहीं मौत भी झेल रहे पाकिस्तानी हिंदू शरणार्थी: आदर्श नगर कैंप का आँखों देखा हाल#AdarshNagar #PakistaniHinduRefugeeCamp #Delhi pic.twitter.com/WkUYopvoOo
— Ravi Agrahari (@Ravibhu09) October 26, 2021
The camp has no electricity and no running water. The only ‘facility’ is a community toilet, but there is no piped water. As such, people have to depend on the everyday water tankers for all their needs. Knowing how these Hindu refugees have to queue up for hours before getting water which probably is not even sufficient to quench their thirst, one shudders to imagine how filthy the community toilets must be due to the unavailability of water.
Meanwhile, adding salt to their injuries, the Centre on October 21 opposed a petition seeking electricity connections for these 200 Hindu migrant families. The Centre in its response said that their demand should be dismissed as they were residing in “illegal camps” in North Delhi.
The wretched conditions these Hindu refugees have been living in is appaling. We thus took it upon ourselves to meet them and bring to the fore the despicable situations and the challenges these 2,000 migrants including children as young as five-year-old are having to face in their day to day lives.
Before we met Nehru Lal, the pradhan (head) of the Refugees’ Committee, we thought of meeting some women and children to learn about the hardships they were facing here in the Adarsh Nagar camp and what had brought them to India. Most of these immigrants opined that they came to India from Hyderabad in Pakistan’s Sindh province as a result of religious persecution by Pakistan’s majority Muslims.
They said they came with the hope that emigrating to India will provide a bright and safe future for their children. “Where else were we supposed to go? If Muslims only persecute us, which Muslim country would adopt us? India is the only country where Hindus feel safe. If we cannot get a comfortable life here then we prefer to die. Every day we are living in the hope that one day all will be well. We will also get citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act and our children’s future will be secured. There is still hope but…”, the woman speaking to the OpIndia team paused abruptly, her silence, however, speaking volumes about the hopelessness and scepticism that surrounds the North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar refugee camp.
The apprehensions which are visible in the eyes of the poor Hindu immigrants are completely understandable as for the last 8-10 years, the lives of 800 Pakistani Hindu immigrants residing in the Adarsh Nagar neighbourhood of North Delhi have been dismal.
The camp has no electricity, no proper toilet facilities and no running water. Summers become increasingly unbearable making it hard for the immigrants to cope up with heatwave related incidents. During monsoons, while there is some respite from the heat, those in the settlement have to grapple with other issues. The stagnant rainwater combined with garbage leads to the increased presence of mosquitoes, which, in turn, spikes cases of Malaria and Dengue along with some other water-borne diseases. The financial constraints and lack of access to healthcare lead to an increased number of deaths in these camps.
From the risks of living in straw huts which may collapse anytime during the rainy season to the health hazards they face due to lack of proper sanitation and toilets to the diseases that spread due to the dirty stagnant knee-deep water that accumulates during the monsoon season, the hazards are many.
Moolchand, a teacher residing in the camp spoke to us in length about the deplorable conditions in which these Hindu migrant families have been living in the national capital.
He lamented that despite living in such awful conditions, they at least had a roof over their head. Moolchand stated that during monsoons, when the camp is flooded, there have been instances that the refugees have nowhere to go, because they cannot even squat on roadsides because they have no papers.
Meanwhile, Nehru Lal, who was preoccupied with the rebuilding work of a Kali temple here that was damaged due to the rains, told us that in the last 8 years they have met and spoken to many government authorities but all in vain. “We met many AAP MLAs, Union minister Harsh Vardhan also visited our camp, we also met Manoj Tiwari, but nothing happened.
“What are we doing wrong? No one even knows, but plans are in the works to get us out of here. We have lost everything in Pakistan. Where would we go now if we are forced to leave”? rued Nehru Lal.
These families that have been forced to live in the dark for many years, had been hoping for a bright Diwali since last month, however, their dreams shattered as the central govt in its reply to the Delhi HC stated that these migrants have illegally encroached on defence land, hence they could not be provided with electricity. The response from the centre was the final nail in the coffin for these beleaguered Hindu refugees, who, along with other issues, are now fearing eviction.
In such a situation we invited the pradhan (head) of the Refugees’ Committee to talk to us about their concerns all over again. Our team assured him that OpIndia would ensure that their concerns were published in detail. Here’s what Nehru Lal told us:
As is evident from the video, the miseries of these Pakistani Hindu refugees’ have only increased with time. However, the Hindu immigrants residing in the Adarsh Nagar are not the only ones suffering. Even in the camp near Majnu Ka Tila and Signature Bridge in North Delhi, where Hindu refugees from Pakistan live, the lives of these Hindu refugees have come to a standstill due to the lack of basic facilities. What’s more concerning is that the Kejriwal government and the central government have failed to save these Hindu immigrants from their plight.
“We’ve been trying for electricity for the last seven years,” Dharamveer, the head of Majnu Ka Tila Camp, told OpIndia. “Snakes and scorpions keep pouring out every day.” What should we do if life is in danger here and there (Pakistan)? If we receive electricity, we’ll work hard to pay the bill.
Let us remind you that Majnu Ka Tila Camp, on the banks of the Yamuna, is also on Central Government territory and that these refugees have been waiting for rehabilitation for the past seven years.
These immigrants came to India from Pakistan as a result of religious persecution by Pakistan’s majority Muslims. They hope that emigrating to India will provide a bright and safe future for their children, yet without electricity in the slum, their current existence is devastated.
The Hindu residents here work as daily wagers, earning barely enough to feed their families. Yet they are not demanding free facilities. They are ready to pay for the electricity.
Echoing the sentiments of the Adarsh Nagar Hindu immigrants on the issue, Nehru Lal said: “We have never received any notice stating that the land we are staying on belongs to the government and even if it does we are not running away with it. We have not carried these pieces of land on our heads from Pakistan. It definitely belongs to India. We are just living here, not asserting ownership on it. At least provide us with clean water and electricity till the time we are living here. This would help us save the money which we otherwise are compelled to spend on medical treatments. We will gladly go wherever the government relocates us, but we only demand a better standard of living”, rued Lal, the head of the Refugees’ Committee.
Nehru Lal recalled how in the year 2018, they had gotten power from Jahangir Puri by paying some money three or four years ago, but it, too, had been cut off by the Kejriwal government. He added that this was the same year when they learnt that the Delhi Jal Board gave the land, where the Hindu refugees are currently residing in North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar, to the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the former was entrusted with the responsibility to vacate it.
The recent decision of the Central government to oppose the Delhi high court petition seeking electricity connections for 200 Pakistani Hindu migrant families was largely due to this order passed by the Kejriwal government.
When the Delhi government cut off electricity for the Hindu refugees residing in the Adarsh Nagar camp for a few days, there was outrage on social media. Many people only started tweeting and criticising the Kejriwal government in 2018. But even after that, our government machinery did not bother to find any solution to this problem, lamented Nehru Lal.
Nehru Lal added that the local AAP MLA had also met them and had tried to get electricity supply into the settlement, but the connections never came. He added that the children attend the local government school. The refugees add that even some temporary arrangement for electricity will save a lot of lives in the colony.
It may be noted that the Pakistani Hindu refugees residing in Delhi Jal Board Maidan since 2013, in an attempt to get electricity to their slums, had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi high court, in turn, on September 22, 2021, had sought the response of the Centre, Delhi government and Tata Power on the matter.
The central government, in response, opposed the petition on October 22, telling the Delhi HC that the camp built by these refugees at Delhi Jal Board Maidan is an illegal encroachment on defence land.
The Centre told the court that the 70.253-acre plot of land was transferred to the Defence Research and Development Organisation in August 2018 and that it has been following up with the district administration and police on the elimination of “unauthorised occupation/encroachment” on defence territory. According to the Centre, the Ministry of Defence has also taken up the matter of disconnecting the electricity and water supply of the “unauthorised inhabitants” with the Delhi Jal Board and North Delhi Power Limited.
For these Hindu refugees, who have been putting up a tough fight every day to sustain amidst all their problems, Hindu organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Sewa Bharti, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Seva Sangh Japan (HSS Japan) and a few NGOs have been the only hope.
While all these Hindu outfits have continuously tried to help these destitute residents from time to time, Seva Sangh Japan (HSS Japan) has especially provided immense help and support to them. They have provided vocational training like singing and dancing, conducted skill development programs like sewing and beauty parlour training for women.
Having said all of this, it’s essential to know that, while Muslims can choose any one of the 150 Islamic countries in the world to reside in, India is the only country for the Hindus, particularly for those who are persecuted in other Islamic countries. As a result, it is the responsibility of the Indian government, both central and state, to safeguard these beleaguered Hindus and make them feel at home.
