Comparing Malls

The first time I went to Ejipura and witnessed the displacement of the Dalit community by Maverick Holdings in collusion with the BBMP (Bangalore’s municipal authority), I couldn’t help compare the situation to what I have witnessed in Palestine. Recently UNRWA published a series of statistics on how Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes affects Palestinians (see a few of the charts below).  In Palestine having Israelis bulldoze your home is quotidian.

It is rare to read news sources that monitor this, like al-Akhbar or Electronic Intifada, on any given day and not see news about home demolitions. It is a part of the ongoing nakba. Just this week al-Akhbar reported of two Palestinian homes being demolished in the West Bank. Here is a video of this most recent demolition. It looks quite similar to the demolitions taking place here in Bangalore.

Just as Palestinians steadfastly work toward their goal of returning home, and increasingly use boycott as a tactic to achieve this result, increasingly the residents of Ejipura are as well. In Ejipura this week there was a protest and there is a desire to boycott Garuda Mall as a strategy to achieve justice for the people so they may be granted the replacement homes they were promised by their government.

The root of the problem and the context differ, of course. In Palestine it is colonists uprooting indigenous people to steal land and build their colonies. Just this week 90 new homes have been approved for building in Jerusalem (for those who think that 50% of Jerusalem belongs to Jewish colonists this is what you call “East Jerusalem,” although for those who are anti-colonial Jerusalem has no dividing line). In 1948 Palestine the ongoing nakba continues as Israel continues to cleanse itself of Palestinians, especially in the Naqab (Negev) desert in the southern portion of the state.

But all of uprooting for the sake of a mall made me recall one of my dear friends’ villages, Malha, which is a neighborhood of Jerusalem. My friend is a refugee, although many of the original homes and a mosque (which seems to be used as a house by an Israeli Jewish colonist) remain. But on this land is also a large shopping mall.  Her uprooting was not for the creation of the mall, but its presence on her family’s land is disturbing nevertheless. Below are photographs I took of the mall as well as the beautiful, traditional stone Palestinian homes.

It may not be the same cause or the same context, but uprooting and homelessness whether for a land grab or a shopping center is immoral and must be resisted via boycott or other means necessary to achieve justice.

Here are a few more recent articles on Ejipura:

Ejipura Demolition: Hundreds of Protestors Court Arrest

Photostory: Ejipura Bulldozed

Maverick’s Project in Bangalore: Il-legalizing the Poor

Of a City of Pieces and the Importance of the Larger Community

The Relativity of Gratitude

Violence Continues Against EWS Residents, Activists Say

On the Periphery: Ejipura and the Fence

It rained in Ejipura yesterday after I left. Hadn’t thought at all about inclement weather given the climate here in Bangalore. But it seems that passing out better tarps (most families are making due with old plastic political banners torn down around the neighborhood) and raincoats.

There is a metal fence around the entire perimeter of the old slum in Ejipura now. It’s hard to see inside. Most of the same families who have been living on its periphery still remain, steadfastly waiting to acquire suitable housing that they can afford. 

Most of the families left behind are Tamil. And yesterday there were Tamil posters plastered about Ejipura comparing the Indian government officials’ responsibility in the uprooting of Ejipura residents to what the massacre the Sri Lankan government perpetrated against the Tamils in 2009.

Before they sealed off the area, the last group of slum housing, these made mostly of zinc roofs and walls, were demolished. I couldn’t get inside to see, but the mosque is on the edge of that former neighborhood so I took this photograph from inside to give a view of the rubble. Interestingly, when I was doing Sunday morning food distribution a couple of weeks ago a church group was the donor. And they happened to bring their own volunteers with them. Many of the families from this last area to be demolished–before it was demolished–came seeking food. One of the nuns got quite angry at the people and tried to shoo them away. I got in an argument with her and the other church people because they were clearly in need, clearly hungry, and I head heard that they were next. I remember saying, so they can only eat your food once they no longer have a roof over their head? And now it has come to pass it seems.

Today there is a big march taking place as I write. I intended to do this prior to the demonstration, but I didn’t have time. But here are the list of demands articulated by the current and former residents of Ejipura:

Grounds of Protest 

• Why is land earmarked for purpose of housing Economically Weak Sections (EWS) being used for the purpose of private profit and commercial exploitation?
• Why has the BBMP chosen Maverick Holdings when they have already committed fraud by constructing Garuda Mall on public land meant for a parking lot?
• The Government has issued biometric cards, BBMP ID cards, Voter IDs and Ration Cards to the residents of EWS quarters. The BBMP Council even passed a resolution in 2005 that houses would be built for both allottees and non-allotees living in EWS Quarters. On what grounds are they now labelling them as encroachers?
• Why were the residents who were recognised as lawful residents not consulted before any decision was made?
• The concession agreement between Maverick and BBMP clearly lays down that it is Maverick’s responsibility to relocate residents during Implementation Period at its own expense. Why has this not been done?
• While EWS Quarters stood on 11.37 acres of land, how is 15.64 acres of land being handed over to Maverick Holdings?
• When this case was in the High Court of Karnataka, why did the BBMP mislead the court by saying that all interested parties agreed to this arrangement? Why were not these bonafide residents not considered as “interested parties” in this agreement?

WE DEMAND                                                                                                                                           -Cancel the PPP and use the EWS land for its original purpose                                                                                          -Rebuild houses for all erstwhile residents immediately on the same land
-Prosecute those responsible for brutal evictions and collapse of the EWS quarters
-Order an independent judicial enquiry into the illegal diversion of public lands 

Here are some important articles to read to understand more about what is going on in Ejipura:

How Did My House Become Yours, Ask Allottees

From Shanty Houses to Shanty Lives: The Story of an Eviction

Ejipura: Living in the Shadows of the Maverick Fence

From Nonadanga to Ejipura: The Urban Battleground

Ejipura Workers Back Off After Evictee’s Immolation Threat

Steps to Prevent Ejipura Crisis from Getting Worse

Finally, you can sign a petition by clicking here to protest the building of another Garuda Mall on the land that belongs to the Ejipura residents.

How to Help in Ejipura

There is a fence now that is being erected around the Ejipura slum. Families who remain without shelter skirt the perimeter of the property, which now has a clear sign of ownership on the fence. Soon one won’t be able to peer inside or go inside at all. Inside all that remains is a church, a Christian shrine, and the water tank.

The families who resided in these slums took pride in their homes. They may have been landless and poor, but they made their homes beautiful with paint on the walls, paintings inside, and gardens that fed the family and produced flowers to beautify the space. Many of these families had pets from dogs to cats to fish to birds. But this community has been broken. People don’t know where their neighbors have gone. Some don’t even know where family members are now.

The situation has not changed much: people still need water, food, clothing, and most importantly a more permanent home. After that some project to help people generate income, some kind of livelihood-building project will be needed.

There is much work to be done. The people who are organizing relief work in Ejipura are not an NGO. Most people are students or workers who are volunteering their time. In many respects, this is a better way of operating as it gives the volunteers more freedom than being tied down to the bureaucracy of an NGO.  But it also means that people need to step up to the plate in any way they can.

Here are some ways you can help (note is a few days old, but basic information is not):

Dear all,

Thank you so much for the overwhelming response over the last few days. Now the EWS quarters have been almost completely demolished by BBMP via police harassment and threats. Out in the cold, many have not slept for days as they have been harassed wherever they sit or move their meagre belongings, while they have no funds to pay for the customary advance (safety deposit) required to be paid before renting even the lowest cost house in Bangalore, nor even to pay for a vehicle to move their belongings.

We are trying to sustain this community with food and water (supply has been cut), warm clothes and blankets. In addition those who feel they can no longer tolerate the police repression are requesting funds for the advance to move out into small houses. People are making their own decisions about leaving or staying, but many are worried that the longer they resist and the fewer they are in number, that their chances of actually getting support to move if and when they are pushed towards no other option are low – this is making people move out faster. If we have funds to cover supporting this community through their resistance it can make a huge difference.

Here’s a quick breakdown of our immediate requirements:

*Food:* We have been feeding roughly 700 people per meal, with cost ranging from Rs. 8 to 25 per day depending on who steps forward to provide meals at what rate. The local area packed meals are Rs. 25 and some bulk suppliers have supplied some meals at Rs. 8. Also, milk and bananas for children/infants. If you feel you can contribute towards (either ordering the food parcels or financially) for any denomination you are comfortable with, it would be a great help.

*Water*: We have ordered drums of water for people, and are moving towards getting tankers to the site. The only problem is police harassment for all standing vehicles providing relief.

*Blankets:* Last night we received around 380 blankets. Still, we only managed to cover 1 per family. If you can conduct blanket and warm clothing donation drives in your area or circles by this evening, there should be more warmth to go around.

*Finances:* People need an advance to move into alternative housing and money to transport their belongings. You can send it to me if you prefer my personal account at Account number 0683101027442 Canara Bank, IISC branch, Bangalore, Karnataka IFSC-CNRB0000683

For an organizational account
Account Name – People’s Union for Civil Liberties
Bank – State Bank of Mysore
Acc no – 54047022713
IFSC – SBMY0040016
Branch Code – 40016
Send a mail to Gowruchinnapa[at]gmail.com to track the transaction and receipts.

*Medicines:* We hope to be able to get medicines from hospitals and health professionals. Doctors are on the site right now. However, we do need money for hospital visits and charges for serious patients, nutritional supplements (vitamins, iron) for the elderly, children and pregnant women, first aid over a period of time.

*Advocacy:* Write, blog, petition, share stories on Facebook and Twitter with #EWSEjipura as a hashtag, call authorities and demand why evictions have been carried out so brutally, why the police continues to threaten to throw out residents belongings such that many have been relegated to the footpath, why toilets and water supplies were destroyed on the first day and why aren’t makeshift facilities being arranged for- tents, toilets, water, compensation. We cannot, in our humanitarian effort, allow the government to shirk from its culpability, its word and pass on the buck like this.

With simultaneous demolitions going on in Golibar and Ambevadi, Mumbai and in cities across the country, a campaign towards the right to shelter needs to grow stronger.

We’re planning to set up a blog very soon with daily updates on the situation.

If you’re at the site and want to know who to give your contributions contact Vinay Sreenivasa.

Here are new articles on the ongoing situation in Ejipura:

Ejipura: “How many malls do Bangaloreans need?”

Mauled

Ejipura: Only a Water Tank and a Shrine Remain

Celebrating Republic Day with Expulsions in Ejipura

Today was Republic Day in India. It’s a day commemorating the day that India’s constitution became the primary document that lays out the laws and of the state and the rights of its people. It is rather ironic, then, that the remaining residents of Ejipura were expelled from their homes today.

The bulldozers kept churning the soil today, flattening it out, but there were a few families who held out inside the former slum. These families were being encircled as the bulldozers continued establishing new piles of rubble and dirt to form a barricade. There was also a fence that workers began to erect around the property.

The last family inside was holding out for compensation they were promised by Maverick Holdings, the company that owns Garuda Mall (the mall provided security at the main checkpoint to get inside the area). They were entitled to 5,000 rupees, but from that had to pay 1,200 for the truck to move their belongings (the lowest down payment for a new place to live is at least 10,000 rupees). In the end, they received their money, but they had no idea where they would go. Many of the families left are Tamil and so not from here; they don’t necessarily have family in the area or in the state.

Once the last family inside left Maverick sent one of its employees to expel the remaining families who have been living in the water pipes. Some of these families do not have proper papers and so while activists were busy feeding people or helping the last family steadfastly holding out for their money, the Maverick employee lowered the compensation amount to 2,000 rupees. Others signed the papers without receiving any money at all, although they were promised funds. All the people who signed papers when receiving money also lessened their chances in court.

Scuffles broke out between activists and the police today, of course after the journalists from The Hindu and The Times of India left the scene. Police brought a large bus and started walking around with sticks to intimidate people. It seemed as though negotiations would yield a return to the 5,000 rupee promise, but in the end most families settled. Fortunately, the residents of Koramangala, the neighboring area, collected funds to help families pay down payments on new housing for families who found viable places to resettle.

Many of the families who left are now in Sarjapur. Some have been locked out of housing they paid a down payment for. And there is no water or electricity there.

It is troubling that there is so little national or international media covering this story. The world is so quick to cover a horrifically brutal rape in Delhi, but not the mass expulsion of a community that has lived in these homes for decades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also see these articles for more about what’s happening in Ejipura:

Ejipura Evictions: People Treated Like Dogs and Thrown Out of Houses

Bulldozers and Pipes: Life Takes on a Different Meaning

Youth Pour Out to Help Ejipura Demolition Affected

Rights Group Appeal to International Bodies

Ejipura Residents Struggling to Find Alternative Accommodation

And check out these videos that give a sense of what has been happening and how the residents of Ejipura feel about their expulsion:

More on the Uprooting of Ejipura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hear people using words like “evacuation” or “eviction” when describing what is happening in Ejipura. But it’s neither. People are not being rescued from a natural disaster. People are being kicked out of their homes for being delinquent with their rent. They are being forcibly removed, dispossessed, uprooted. They are being uprooted like the trees the bulldozers tore down yesterday along with the homes, trees that are now serving as firewood to keep families warm at night.

When I returned to Ejipura this morning it was even more of a wasteland because the bulldozers flattened so much of the land. Families were searching for apartments to rent. On average they need 10,000 rupees (less than $100) as a security deposit. But by day’s end it turned out that some of the people they rented from did not actually own the apartments they rented and 30 families were locked out from housing once again in a nearby area.

The last family holding out yesterday, hoping the bulldozer would somehow skirt around their home or postpone demolishing it was gone by morning. When I left yesterday evening they were the last house on the edge of the plot of land. Today they were gone. I saw the elder matriarch in the street asking for blankets–they relocated on the outskirt of the slum.

After breakfast was distributed we delivered tea to the remaining families. One woman approached me with her son. She is a widow and cleans people’s homes for a living, but the woman she normally works for has been on vacation so she has no money. She said she wished she had poison to serve her small family instead of lunch.

There were some dirt barricades created between the slum and the street today that the bulldozers obviously made. It impeded passage between the various families who had been removed and made distributing food, water, and blankets more challenging. By evening when we passed out dinner it was even harder. On the previous days auto rickshaws were filled up with the food parcels and delivered directly to the families. By evening there were so many more barricades inside the area that this became more difficult. And at one end of the slum there was a police barricade with a policeman standing guard.

I met a doctor tonight who lives in the area and who knows this community. She described them as typically quite healthy. But in the last few days a number of health problems began to emerge. There are now cases of diarrhea, hepatitis, and jaundice. There are problems with thyroid and blood pressure because people lost or are not taking their medications. And respiratory infections are increasing, possibly because people are exposed to the cold night air and inhaling so much smoke from the fires burning at night in order to stay warm and have some light. Girls are not eating and drinking because there is no place for them to go to the toilet. Men are taking their frustrations out on their wives. Some families have had their belongings stolen. Some husbands are selling family belongings even though their wives are opposed to it.

And one of the worst stories I heard today is that some police stole blankets from families last night. They also threatened other families, saying that if they accepted blankets from us they would be arrested. 

In the midst of all of this politicians and businessmen continue to play political football with people’s lives. Supposedly there are funds for helping families relocate and get settled in the government, but those funds have gone missing somewhere between the government and a politician’s pocket.

Home demolitions in Ejipura

I received a text message today asking me to come to Ejipura today. They needed volunteers to help deliver food and blankets and they needed people to help move the belongings from people’s homes away from the bulldozers. Homes were being demolished.

The home demolitions had been going on for a few days. The activists who were attempting to intervene in this process through demonstrations were arrested–21 of them–for 2 days, just enough time to make sure they could not interfere with the destruction. When I arrived the entire landscape looked like a war zone. Homes razed to the ground. All that was left was the rubble and the flooring where the houses used to be. Many of the families who were able to, who had family elsewhere, left. But those who had nowhere to go or no means to go remained. Others stayed as an act of resistance. Some were making new, temporary homes in water pipes. And by the end of the day the slum relocated to the curb on the main road.

Unfortunately, none of this was unfamiliar to me. I felt like I was back in Palestine watching Israeli colonists raze Palestinian homes to the ground, a regular occurrence in Palestine (see some of my blog posts on this here, here, here, and here). In Palestine it’s obvious why the settler-colonists want to destroy homes: to steal more land that they can use to build more colonies. This has been true since before the Zionists stole Palestine in 1948.

In India it’s an Indian government demolishing Indian homes. In this scenario, a man (owner of Garuda Mall) bought the plot of land where the 3,000 families have resided–some for as long as 35 years–to build a shopping mall (just what every city needs: another shopping mall). In theory, half the land will be for the mall and half will be to build new homes for the community residing in Ejipura. But how long will that take? And what should these families do in the mean time? It also seems a bit unlikely that this scheme will be seen through given that the same man who bought the land also bought the judge hearing the case and the mosque adjacent to the slum. As a result there were some families who took cash and relocated. But there were many more who refused cash or food from the buyer or the mosque on principle.

As we wandered about the former slum, people shared their stories. Many of these people are Indians without proper identity papers (this is an issue here for many people and it inhibits their access to all kinds of social services). It reminds me of non-ID Palestinians who carried an extra burden after the Lebanese army destroyed Nahr el Bared refugee camp.

One woman who was rather gutsy when salvaging her remains underneath and beside the bulldozer that was skirting her home seemed to have a set of skeleton keys peeking out from beneath her sari, reminding me of the keys that Palestinians carry after their homes were destroyed during the nakba in 1948.

Little by little families at the edge of the slum prepared to move their belongings in the late afternoon. We helped some pile them into auto rickshaws. Others just wanted them on the curb, some choosing to make a home at the bus stop. Others just moved them a few feet away to make space for the bulldozer destroying their home. There was one hold out family that refused to move their items and sat and watched as it made a path next to their house.

Throughout the day children found spaces to play with salvaged toys or with the rubble. Young girls imitated their mothers, sweeping away the dust from the digging. 

It was heart wrenching to see so many families displaced and rendered homeless at once. Tonight they will spend another night out in the cold with no real shelter.  The elements already got to one woman, Rosemary, who died yesterday.

Here are a few articles about the demolitions for those who want to read more:

More Houses Raised at Ejipura in Bangalore

Hundreds Rendered Homeless in Ejipura

HC Refuses Urgent Hearing of Petitions of Ejipura Residents

Ejipura Residents Lose the Roof Over Their Head

Seven Propositions and One Challenge for Ejipura Residents

G4S in India

 

 

 

So far I have seen three G4S offices in Bangalore alone. I have also seen their cars driving around the city. When I was in Darjeeling recently, I discovered that they also ran security for the Darjeeling zoo. They seem to operate as an ordinary security company, but they are anything but ordinary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At present there is a campaign to vote for G4S as the worst company in the world. There are many reasons for this, but the main points of interest are related to G4S role in maintaining Israel’s colonization and occupation of Palestine, particularly its prisons, apartheid wall, and checkpoints. Writing for Electronic Intifada, Adri Nieuwhof explains their role:

The British-Danish security giant G4S has become the target of rights activists in different countries because of its provision of services to Israeli prisons, military checkpoints and to firms in illegal settlements in the West Bank.

In 2008, G4S Israel advertised its involvement with Israeli miitary checkpoints on its website. The text on the left of the screenshot above reads: “Systems for checking persons, manufactured by Safeview USA, first of their kind, were installed at the Erez checkpoint. The systems are in operational use by the army and enable the performance of full scans of the human body.”

G4S confirmed it had provided security equipment with “associated maintenance services” to the Israeli police, prison service and defense ministry, in a 21 December 2010 letter to the Business and Human Rights Resource Center in London. At the same time, the company claimed it did “not control” — and was not  “necessarily aware” — where its security equipment was deployed “as it may be moved around the country.”

In a follow up article, in part responding to G4S concerns about the claims made in the above-quoted article, Nieuwhof adds more details about G4S involvement in oppressing Palestinians for Israelis:

In the brochure, published by the Danish watchdog DanWatch, G4S describes the supply of a perimeter defense system for the walls around the Ofer prison compound and the installation of a central command room to monitor the entire Ofer compound. In addition, the company writes it also provided all the security systems in Ketziot prison and a central command room in Megiddo prison (G4S delivers technology to Israeli prisons,” DanWatch, 21 November 2010).

G4S boasts that the three prisons can detain 2,700-3,700 “security” prisoners — the majority of whom are Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip illegally transferred to detention centers within Israel’s internationally-recognized boundary. International humanitarian law forbids an occupying power from transferring prisoners outside of the occupied territory and the conditions in Israeli prisons do not meet international legal standards. Accordingly, G4S’s involvement in the Israel Prison Service apparatus abets violations of international law.

G4S’s promotional material contradicts its claim that it does not know where its X-ray machines and body scanners are used. Who Profits? — a project of the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace — has also documented that G4S luggage scanning equipment and full body scanners are used at checkpoints in the occupied West Bank towns of Qalandiya, Bethlehem and Irtah. G4S also provided full body scanners to the Erez checkpoint at Gaza. Who Profits? told The Electronic Intifada that this information is published in G4S’s own website and brochures.

Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur on  human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, highlighted G4S role in maintaining Israeli apartheid in his report on various corporations that profit off of Palestinian suffering.

 

As a result of these findings, BDS activists have been working to target G4S in various ways. And in 2012 there were several success:

The British firm Good Energy announced that it would end its business relationship with G4S, the private security giant with a track record of complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.

After sustained media attention and pressure from BDS activists, several Danish charities and a bank decided to end security service contracts with the British-Danish security company G4S for the company’s role in Israel’s occupation.

The University of Oslo in Norway announced it would drop its contract with private security company G4S in July 2013 over the company’s involvement with Israeli prisons and its providing of services and equipment to checkpoints, Israel’s wall in the West Bank, settlement and settlement businesses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite actions targeting G4S last year was one done in London during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Michael Deas’ report on the action in the above video offers inspiration to those wanting to take action based on others who have been fighting G4S:

A Danish bank, several major Danish NGOs and a UK energy supplier have all dropped their links with G4S after pressure from campaigners. The EU declined to renew a contract with G4S following a campaign supported by members of the European Parliament. Students at Edinburgh University in Scotland voted to block the union’s contract with G4S and students at Oslo university in Norway are campaigning for the university not to renew its contract with the security company when it expires in February 2014.

For those who want to read a detailed report about G4S role in Palestine, Who Profits published a report on the subject.

BDS is new in India, but it is growing especially among cultural workers and academics. I hope that it soon spreads to the economic sector, especially targeting multinational corporations like G4S.