Yogi Government’s Evil Eye on Lucknow

The tears of the people displaced from Akbarnagar Lucknow do not stop. Whose heart will not be shaken seeing their homes being destroyed into dust. Today, AIDWA’s team met the people living in small room-like houses in Basant Kunj, situated outside the city, with the pain of their homes being destroyed. All the women seen in the picture had come to the houses of Akbarnagar as brides. Some had two-storey houses, while some lived in four to six room houses. They said that their family members had been living there for more than 60 years and paid everything from electricity bills to house tax. During elections, leaders used to come to ask for votes and when their houses were demolished, no one’s face was seen. They were repeatedly saying that if everything was illegal then why was it not stopped earlier and when our roots became strong then we were exiled. Rukhsana tells that when she remembers that scene, her heart sinks. Shamim used to work in a boutique in Nishatganj and her husband was a roadside shopkeeper. How will they be able to go so far to work now? Ruby used to work as a seamstress in Nishatganj. Preeti used to look after office work in a fitness centre. Kamla was a domestic worker in Indira Nagar. Geeta Shukla’s son used to work in a shop in Aminabad and now faces a lot of difficulty in going there. Her husband has suffered a paralysis attack due to shock. Insha used to study in class 3, now she is unable to go to school. There is no school nearby. There is also no hospital nearby. There is a private hospital at 3-4 km which charges a very high fee. Vivek Shukla says that his 7-year-old son forcibly took him to his old place Akbar Nagar and on seeing the debris in place of the slum, he started crying bitterly. Perhaps his eyes were searching for his house and the toys kept in it. Now Baba’s bulldozer is going to destroy who knows how many homes and the dreams living in them and on the rubble of all these destroyed homes and buried dreams. Now beautiful palaces, high-speed roads, big luxurious markets and safaris will be built. Come on! Ignoring the cries of the people, see the speed of development…

This post has been written on her Facebook wall by Madhu Garg, National Joint Secretary of All India Democratic Women’s Association, after talking to the displaced people of Akbar Nagar, Lucknow. Currently the evil eye of the Yogi government is on the residents of Lucknow. Earlier, the BJP-RSS government has changed the original form of the religious and faith cities Ayodhya and Varanasi and turned them into tourist centres. Large scale demolitions were done in these cities, even the words of Shankaracharyas and religious gurus were ignored and ancient temples and religious places were destroyed, people were evicted from their homes and businesses. The resentment against this government dictatorship was also visible in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. BJP lost the Ayodhya seat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi somehow won the Varanasi seat.

Now the city of culture, Lucknow, is on the target. Akbar Nagar where houses, shops and religious places of about 1600 families were destroyed by bulldozers. Today those families are forced to live in very small houses in Basant Kunj, about 20 kilometers away from the city, in very bad condition. Where they have to pay an installment of Rs 3300 per month and there is lack of many basic facilities. All these people who used to work in places like Nishatganj, Indira Nagar, Mahanagar have been deprived of their jobs today. Now the government’s eyes are also on the colonies and settlements of Pantnagar, Rahim Nagar, Khurram Nagar, Scorpio Club and Abrar Nagar. Notice has been given to them too and the survey work will be started from tomorrow i.e. Monday. For the big real estate players and builders of Gujarat, the government is evicting people in the name of beautification of Kukrail drain. Not only this, due to shifting of the old zoo and museum built in Narhi towards Kukrail Night Safari, trees will have to be cut on a large scale there too. Due to which the ecosystem of Lucknow will be affected and the environment will be severely damaged. It is also reported that the government plans to demolish about 18 settlements and colonies.

Not only this, the proposal to include the whole of Lucknow in LDA, a decision has been taken in the LDA meeting held day before yesterday. In the meeting, it was proposed that now the name of Lucknow Development Authority will be changed to Lucknow Mahanagar Vikas Pradhikaran. With this, now the lands of the villages of Lucknow district will also come under LDA and it will be necessary to get the map passed from LDA for building a house there, for which an arbitrary fee will have to be paid. It has also been decided in the LDA meeting that Rs 2245 per square meter external development fee and Rs 200 per square meter comfort fee will be charged on the maps of houses to be built within 2.5 km radius of Green Corridor, Shaheed Path, Kisan Path. This will be applicable in the entire development authority area. Obviously, this is putting excessive burden of taxes on the common citizens.

On 7 March 2024, the Uttar Pradesh government has brought the Nazul Property (Management and Use for Public Purpose) Ordinance 2024. Under this ordinance, the government has banned giving freehold land to the people settled on Nazul land and has ordered to take back the land of those whose lease has expired.  Also, those who have settled on Nazul land but do not have a lease patta will be evicted from the land. Everyone knows that after the departure of the British, a large amount of land remained vacant on which the then kings and princes could not prove their ownership, such land is recorded as Nazul land. In the development process after independence, lakhs of people have settled on these Nazul lands and entire markets of many cities are on these Nazul lands. Such action will take away the livelihood of the people.

People have started mobilizing against the actions of the Yogi government which is destroying Lucknow and putting the lives of common citizens in danger. Residents of Abrar Nagar, Pant Nagar, Rahim Nagar, Khurram Nagar, Scorpio Club have together formed the Trans Gomti Residents Struggle Committee. At the same time, a meeting of major political parties, social organizations, labour organizations and dignitaries of civil society of Uttar Pradesh is also being held today. Representatives of organizations like Samajwadi Party, Congress, CPM, CPI, All India Peoples Front, CPIML, Saajhi Duniya, AIDWA, AITUC, TUCC etc. and the colonies being evicted are participate in this meeting being held at the CPM office. There is a preparation to run a democratic peaceful dialogue campaign against this action of oppression and destruction in the whole of Lucknow.

Dinkar Kapoor is the  State General Secretary, All India Peoples Front