Basic amenities scarce, surveillance abundant in Delhi’s Muslim Areas: Report
New Delhi: Muslim-majority neighborhoods in Delhi, such as Jamia Nagar, Zakir Nagar, and Abul Fazal Enclave, face severe deficits in basic civic amenities like clean drinking water, schools, healthcare, and waste management while seeing an overconcentration of police stations and surveillance infrastructure, a new report revealed.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the report, Segregated Citizens: The Lack of Civil Amenities in the Muslim Majority Parts of Delhi, released by the SPECT Research Association, highlights how these areas have turned into ghettos due to systemic neglect, overpopulation, and political persecution.
It traces the influx of Muslims to Jamia Nagar to incidents of communal violence, including the 1992 Babri Masjid riots, the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, and the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots.
Senior journalist Prashant Tandon emphasized that these ghettos are “political creations” resulting from state-driven marginalization and anti-Muslim violence, not merely poverty or developmental failures. He compared their formation to the ghettoization of Jews in Europe.
The report underscores issues such as erratic water supply, inadequate schools, nonexistent healthcare infrastructure, waste accumulation, and flooding. Despite a population far exceeding permissible limits, the region has only nine primary schools, a dearth of mohalla clinics, and no functional hospital.
The conflict between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh governments over jurisdiction has further stalled developmental projects like road construction and sewage maintenance.
The authors of the report urged authorities to address these challenges and ensure equitable development to improve the quality of life for residents. Journalist Tandon and former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed called for immediate government action to reverse the marginalization highlighted in the report.