BJP leader Baijayant Panda refers to Jahangirpuri residents as “illegal immigrants”

*Paromita Das

The Delhi in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party has compared parts of Delhi to alleged “no-go zones” in European countries where immigrant communities have settled.

Baijayant Panda, a BJP vice-president, told Indian Express that ‘illegal immigrants’ in New Delhi can be identified by their ‘demeanour’ and are ‘dressed like dons.’ In the same breath, Panda equated settlers with ‘criminals, the mafia, and people with ties to terrorist organisations.’ Just as we’ve seen in other parts of Europe — in Sweden, Holland, and Belgium, for example — where immigrant communities have created no-go zones where people and even police are afraid to go, it appears that illegal immigrants have done the same in Delhi. It is a violation of the Indian Constitution.

They have no right to attack the Ram Navami procession; we’ve seen them use illegal weapons and operate from illegal structures. You can see the demeanor of those dressed as dons. The BJP is not anti-community; instead, we work on Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. However, the BJP governments will take action against all criminals and terrorists. ‘This is not to target any community, but criminals, the mafia, and people with ties to terrorist organisations,’ he said.

Panda’s remarks came after a meeting between Amit Shah and other top leaders with the party’s Delhi unit leaders on the day bulldozers destroyed shops and parts of buildings in Jahangirpuri, north Delhi, in a bulldozing effort led by the BJP-ruled North Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

On Ram Navami (April 16), a Hindutva procession allegedly attempted to wave a saffron flag in front of a local mosque, resulting in communal violence.
In the same vein as the BJP-ruled governments of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, both of which saw communal violence on Ram Navami, the NDMC planned an anti-encroachment drive in the area where the violence occurred.

Several opposition leaders and civil society members have called the municipal body’s actions openly communal and an expression of the BJP’s anti-Muslim politics.

Gupta claimed on Sunday that the violence was caused by the AAP government facilitating the illegal stay of ‘Rohingya and Bangladeshi immigrants.’

Despite the Supreme Court’s order to maintain the status quo on the demolition drive, bulldozing continued for more than an hour afterwards.

Following the meeting on Wednesday, the BJP is said to have resolved to pursue all legal options to ensure that the “ongoing exercise” comes to a logical conclusion.

‘Whether on social media, on the ground, or in the Sangh, Delhi’s leadership wants the Yogi (Adityanath) model.
We know that such action, and persuading police and bureaucrats, cannot be taken at the state level,’ an unnamed BJP leader was quoted as saying by the Express.