United Nations experts on Friday urged the Indian authorities to stop evicting around 1 lakh from the village of Khori in Haryana during the monsoon season. They called on India to “urgently review its plans to destroy” the village of Khori and “consider regularizing the settlement” to ensure that no citizen remains homeless.
On June 7th, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Municial Corporation of Faridabad (MCF) to “remove encroachment on the woodland issue”. [in Khori village] without exception. “The civil corporation has been given six weeks until July 19 to complete the task of” reclaiming Aravalli woodland. “The court says Khoris Land is woodland, so any development is illegal.
The last phase of the demolition work of the citizens’ authority to remove the illegal structures in the area had begun on Wednesday by order of the Supreme Court, as the news agency PTI had reported.
UN experts call #India Stop evictions of about 100,000 people who began this week amid the monsoon rains. India urgently needs to review its destruction plans #KhoriGaon & consider regulating the settlement so as not to leave anyone homeless.
https://t.co/RvoBRrCiMZ pic.twitter.com/btHeAeE10Z– UN special procedure (@UN_SPExperts) July 16, 2021
INDIA’S ANSWER
In response to a press release by a group of UN Special Rapporteurs on Khori Village, the Permanent Mission of India made a statement to the United Nations Office. The statement said: “It is unfortunate that the Special Rapporteurs have chosen to issue a press release and not wait for a response just two days after sending a joint communication to this mission.”
The Permanent Mission also said it was regrettable that the Special Rapporteurs made “disrespectful remarks” against the Supreme Court of India. “It’s a worrying trend and an abuse of [their] Position … that seriously harms [their] Credibility, “it said.
The Permanent Mission statement called on the UN Special Rapporteurs to “make sincere efforts to understand the importance of upholding the ‘rule of law’ in any democratic society … and not to undermine it”.
Finally, the statement said India is aware of its human rights obligations and has “taken all necessary steps to fully implement”.
PROTESTS AGAINST DEMOLITION IN KHORI
Several people in Khori village protested the massive demolition this week. In the midst of the chaos a local who resisted the demolition of his house was brutally beaten allegedly by a plainclothes policeman. A video of the incident spread on social media.
The victim was also arrested by the police after the incident. The incident occurred when authorities reached Khori village to clear up encroachments on woodland.
Several teams have been hired by the Faridabad Municipal Corporation to clean up any tampering that has occurred over the years on the over 172 acres of woodland. There are around 10,000 residential buildings in the Aravalli forest near the village of Khori, the removal of which has been ordered by the Supreme Court.
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