News Desk :
Shahid Malik is fighting for a home that no longer exists. For the past two years, Malik, an accountant by trade, has been seeking justice alongside a local lawyer for the demolition of his house and more than two dozen others in Kharak Riwara Satbari, a neighborhood in southwest Delhi, reports Al Jazeera.
In October 2022, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), responsible for urban planning, housing, and land management, demolished the homes without prior notice or surveys. The demolition followed a court ruling transferring land control to a private builder.
Malik has filed two cases-one on behalf of the Resident Welfare Association and another for his own home. However, the hearings have faced repeated delays. “The hearings are constantly postponed, and we haven’t had the chance to voice our grievances. How long must we wait?” he laments.
Malik’s loss extends far beyond the destruction of his house. His son, Ziyan, was born with cardiovascular complications just two months before their home was razed. “His condition worsened after we were forced out into the cold,” Malik recounts, gesturing toward the rubble that once was his home.
The same evening their house was demolished, Malik rushed his crying infant to a doctor. Over the following six days, Ziyan was moved between hospitals before being placed on a ventilator in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. One frigid October morning, the couple watched helplessly as Ziyan’s body turned blue. He passed away, struggling to breathe.
For the family, Ziyan’s death was a direct consequence of losing their home. “Doctors told us the dust exposure made it even harder for him to breathe,” Malik says. “My wife and I still tremble with pain when we think of Ziyan. We were given no notice-authorities stole both our home and our son.”
