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RWAs condemn inept handling of traders' bandh in the Capital

Staff Reporter

Disappointment at the way CM has handled the situation

NEW DELHI: Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) across the Capital have expressed deep concern at the manner in which the three-day traders' bandh was handled by the Delhi Government and the police, stating that the entire city was held to ransom while the administrative and police machinery quietly watched from the sidelines.

"That the entire city of Delhi was held to ransom during the three-day bandh that affected school going children and adults who had to bear with interminable traffic jams speaks volumes about the intentions and the capacity of the administration and the Delhi Government," said leading NGO People's Action president Sanjay Kaul in a statement here.

He said this kind of response was designed to let the protest slip into the hands of anarchists so that vested political objectives could be achieved.

Most RWAs across the city reported deep disappointment at the way Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has handled the situation so far. Many said they suspected that there was a tacit understanding between traders' groups and political groups and in many cases the agitation was led by local councillors who are concerned about their electoral prospects in the coming Municipal elections.

"A few thousand traders in league with political parties cannot hold the city to ransom. The worst thing is that it looks like the Sheila Dikshit Government and the Opposition are supporting such an agitation,'' said Ashok Prabhakar of the Malviya Nagar RWA Federation.

Letters sent

Some RWAs, including Ram Vihar, Mayur Vihar II, Dilshad Garden, Vishwas Nagar and Priya Enclave, have already sent strong letters to the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee against succumbing to the traders' demands.

Rajesh Dokwal, convenor of the United Residents' Joint Association (URJA), East Delhi, said the threats by 45,000-odd traders facing the prospect of sealing seem to have worked on the Central and Delhi Governments.

"It has led to a situation where the Governments are prepared to condone gross illegalities committed by some organised traders by taking on the Court itself," he added.

"School children were forced to stay home due to fear of violence. There were road blockades all over the Capital, which disrupted normal life and prevented citizens from attending to their work. The Delhi police was also given clear instructions not to confront traders, remove road blockades and end disruption of normal services," he said.

V. N. Bali, RWA president from Ram Vihar in East Delhi, said the Government was bending over backward to please the agitating traders. "We have shot off a strongly worded letter to the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee arguing that the ability to strike and come out on the streets should not determine the facts of the case," he stated. He also criticised the Chief Minister for attempting to bring a resolution seeking an end to sealing aimed at attempts to defeat the orders of the Supreme Court.

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