No vote, No existence

Scene: A demolished slum on the fringe of a well-to-do area in the city. 25 houses demolished overnight and residents - infants, children, women, aged included - thrown out with their bags and baggage onto the streets. It’s been 5 days…rainy ones at that. 

Today: a couple of so-called local politicians and some bureaucrats are paying a visit. This has come about only after some NGOs and their volunteers came to the aid of the hapless people - they protested in front of local authorities’ offices, got some media coverage, started petitions… generally made a nuisance of themselves till the concerned ‘powers-that-be’ took note.

There are whispers of behind-the-scene dealings between the land-owner and the politicians. Rumours say that the landowner is a politician himself. The politicians make some noises, promise succour and leave. The evicted slum-dwellers are watching the goings-on, unable to comprehend anything beyond their shelterless existence and a shaky future.

A few days later: People from the NGO have gone to meet the elected representative of that area - read ‘politician’ - to follow up on his promises. The man makes some polite conversation and asks his secretary to take down the details of the situation.

At one point, they draw a blank, “they are slum-dwellers…where will they have papers to prove residence”, asks one of the representatives from the NGO.

There’s complete silence. The politician looks up in surprise. He then asks, “You are wasting my time and yours too. Why will help them? They are of no use to me, they have no votes to give me.” Blunt and to-the-point.

And there died the hopes of the 25 families of regaining their homes… they’ve now become just a statistic in the list of a million such families across the country.