Jawahar Bagh: A CITY OF DISILLUSIONED IDEOLOGIES

A few weeks ago nobody in the country whether the citizens, authorities or the administration knew who Ram Vriksh Yadav or Swadhin Bharat Vidhik Satyagrah (SBVS ) were, but the tragic events that unfolded on 2nd of June 2016, have made these household names. Spread over 280 acres of land Jawahar Bagh in Mathura is not just a random case of encroachment of a horticulture department land. It is more like a city within the city, with flour mills, ration depots, vegetable markets, salons, beauty parlors and more. This land curated by the horticulture department was inhabited by a huge number of squatters who turned it into a "commune". Claiming to be inspired by Subhash Chandra Bose, Ram Vriksh Yadav, founder-leader of the SBVS, was running the setup as “his own little rep­ublic”. The “commune” had its own set of rules, security systems, a school and an adjudication system to deal with any lapses on the members' behalf.

On June 2,the Allahabad court ordered police officials to evict these "satyagrahis" from the piece of land they had been squatting on for years. Yadav’s body was one among the 29 dead in the clash between the squatters and police.While station house officer Santosh Yadav was shot in the head, superintendent Mukul Dwivedi was clobbered to death even as almost 300 cops stood witness.

Claims about the state government having asked the district administration to not just allow the camp to come up in 2014, but also to supply them with free electricity, water and ration, have been doing the rounds. Apparently, the squatters in turn sold commodities such as these, often inaccessible to the common man, at subsidised rates to locals.

What stands to be the most surprising part in the series of events is the fact that the administration decided to turn a blind eye to this camp over almost 26 months despite news of weapons being smuggled in. The question is: how a "cult" with an ideology as vague as "netaji is not dead and will come back and give you a better life", running schools where children perform drills, shout “Azad Hind” slogans and are taught their own version of political history, manages to grow and prosper without raising any eyebrows? Is it a product of the conditions where hunger makes people believe any ideology that guarantees them two square meals a day.? Or lack of education, which has made these squatters ignorant enough to find bliss in this park of Jawahar bagh? Sadly the chain of causes which bring the situation to such a place is beyond my understanding.

No one, as of now, is willing to shoulder the blame for the death of the two policemen and 29 squatters. Nobody knows whether the squatters were forced to live there, or did it by choice and probably we never will find out since the dead, sadly, tell no tales.