New Delhi: Forty-five-year-old Laxmi sits inside the Mahavir Valmiki Temple in Delhi’s Mehram Nagar, clutching bundles of documents — her ID cards, her parents’ papers, and the proof of residence. Around her, scores of residents from her locality can be seen holding stacks of files and papers. Some enter the nearby NSG office, while others stop at the temple, which has become a meeting point for the villagers.
The residents of Mehram Nagar find themselves in news headlines as they protest over eviction notices issued by the National Security Guard (NSG). The NSG has alleged illegal encroachment and unauthorised occupation of land it claims was allotted to it by the Ministry of Defence. It has ordered residents to vacate the area by 30 September. In 1962, the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) allotted 60 houses to families when they were shifted from the western Mehram Nagar during the expansion of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Over time, this settlement has grown to accommodate thousands of houses.
Residents, however, insist they have lived here for generations, saying the land was originally allotted to their ancestors.
“The BJP government, which came to power with the promise of ‘gareebi hatao’ (remove poverty), now has only one goal: ‘garib hatao’ (remove the poor),” said Laxmi.
Residents of East Mehram Nagar, a village near the international airport, have been organising protest meetings for support from political parties and other communities. On Sunday, they held a mahapanchayat attended by representatives from 36 communities across 360 villages, who gathered in solidarity with those facing eviction. The residents will hold another mahapanchayat against the NSG notice on Tuesday.
The residents say they will not leave their homes and ancestral land — even if it means they die fighting the authorities.
“My family has lived and worked here for four generations. We built this house with our hard-earned money. Now they want us to leave without offering any compensation or relocate us,” said Laxmi.
Mehram Nagar is home to an estimated 10,000–15,000 people, with over 5,000 houses, all equipped with water and electricity. The majority of residents belong to Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes.
“I have spent my whole life here, making my home beautiful every single day. Now they want me to die somewhere else,” said 80-year-old Shanti Prajapati, adding that she is ready to die under the rubble of her demolished house rather than leave the place where her husband died.
‘We are losing everything’
It’s not difficult to find Mehram Nagar in East Delhi. The area is closely associated with the NSG headquarters and welcomes visitors with a large signboard. However, the scene has changed over the past three months. The entire neighbourhood is now covered with posters and pamphlets protesting against the NSG eviction.
Slogans like “NSG ki tanashahi nahi chalegi”, “Purkho ki yahi hai nishani, nahi karenge iski kurbani”, “Purvi Mehram Nagar Bachao Andolan” and “Jo sarkar desh ke kaam na aaye, wo sarkar nikammi hai” fill the streets. Some posters are directed against the government and NSG; others call for solidarity and support.
“The governments that came asking for votes are now nowhere to be seen. We are losing our homes, our people,” said 48-year-old Bahadur Sharma, adding that three villagers have died due to stress and cardiac arrests following the continuous eviction notices from the NSG.
NSG officials held a meeting with ten committee members from the village, urging them to cooperate and submit their responses to the authorities.
Now, the entire village is on a mission to collect documents and draft replies to the NSG eviction notices, which they are submitting to the NSG office.
“If the authorities had issues, why didn’t they intervene when people first started building houses? Why did the government provide us with all these facilities only to ask us to leave now?” Sharma asked.
An NSG official told ThePrint that the action is being taken against illegal construction and encroachment on land that officially belongs to the NSG.
300-year-old Mehram Nagar
The notice stated that demolition was planned for the historic settlement, which dates back three centuries.
Accusing the Delhi government of planning to demolish houses in the 300-year-old Mehram Nagar village near the IGI Airport, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress came out in support of the residents on Sunday and warned the ruling BJP of mass resistance if any action was taken.
AAP’s Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have joined the “Mehram Nagar Bachao” movement.
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav said his party would not allow “even a single house” to be demolished in the village.
Addressing a mahapanchayat of 36 communities from 360 villages, Yadav said the BJP was “anti-poor and anti-Dalit” and accused it of displacing people to benefit “Adani and Ambani”.
While some residents demand proper compensation and relocation within a 5-km radius, others are adamantly refusing to leave their ancestral homes.
“We came here before the NSG was even formed, and now they are trying to throw us out of our place,” said Sharma, who lives with 17 other family members and has refused to vacate under any circumstances.
(Edited by Prashant)