Hamara Manch: February 09, 2025

The verdict on the ‘case’ of eviction of Dhobis has finally been hand-delivered on 6th (though dated 4th) of February, 2025.

 Apparently, the Institute had filed a petition with a prayer to evict the dhobi families from its premises under the Eviction Act 1971. The honourable ‘Judge’ for the case, who is the Registrar of the Institute, found that the dhobis are in ‘unauthorized occupation of the Public premises, (which) also (was) declared unsafe for inhabitation’. And his verdict is that the dhobis and their families have to vacate their premises within 30 days, and if they ‘refuse or fail to comply’ they are ‘liable to be evicted…, if need be, by the use of such force as may be necessary.’ The eviction order has not only been delivered to each of the dhobis, but also put up on public notice boards of the Institute (see a sample copy here).

The ruling is predictable given the bizarre farce which is being enacted by the Institute in the name of due process over the last two months. Not only have the Institute authorities stated falsehoods in their prayer but the summary of the so-called hearing proceeding is also full of untruths. As expected, the verdict is in favour of the Institute, and it does help if the Judge, Jury and the Executioner all belong to the same powerful party.

 Hamara Manch has come out with a report almost every fortnight on the issue (see here) and hence the facts have already been stated. Still the ridiculous reasons for the eviction order need to be rebutted yet again:

Over the years many thousands of former students, staff, and faculty members have availed the services of these dhobis and a large number of us continue to do so. Due to all the efforts by the dhobis and some members of the community there would hardly be anyone in the Institute who can honestly claim that they are not aware of this issue. Many have privately extended sympathy to the dhobis for the grossly unfair treatment being meted out to them after serving the community for decades. And yet collectively we have failed to do our part. This grave injustice is happening on our watch and should we choose to remain silent the inevitable would happen. The authorities who delivered the verdict told the dhobis that they will come with bulldozers at the end of the month.

The dhobis have decided collectively to continue to fight for their livelihood. Are we willing to accept this gross injustice being perpetrated in our names? If not, then we ought to add our voices to the efforts of the dhobis. Please get in touch with us or any of the dhobis in case you want to contribute to their effort in any manner.