NEW DELHI: Over seven decades after a family of four settled in a small area of Dadri located in Gautam Buddh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, history continues to haunt the 70-odd families that live there now.
Nearly 100 residents of a narrow street named “Pakistani Wali Gali” lament that despite being Indian, they are discriminated against and even face hurdles in getting basic rights such as education and employment.
Having approached the district administration several times, residents have now decided to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to intervene and change the name of their colony.
“Four of our ancestors settled here from Pakistan in 1947 after partition,” explained Devendra Prasad, a resident. “Slowly, the number of residents grew and the lane got the name “Pakistani Wali Gali”. Today more than 70 families reside here but people treat us as if we belong to another country and not to India,” he said.
Bhupesh Kumar, another troubled resident, alleged, “Our government documents including Aadhaar cards and voter ID cards have our address showing we live in “Pakistani Wali Gali”. How is it our fault that our ancestors came from Pakistan?” “We face problems in admitting our children to schools and our youth face difficulties in getting employment. Even when the young men and women try to find matrimonial matches we have to convince people that we are Indian. Is this fair?” he asked.
Rajeev Rai, SDM, Dadri said that they had not received any complaint from the residents of Pakistani Wali Gali, ward number-3. “We were not aware of their issue. However, now that it has been brought to my notice, we will take the necessary action to redress the problems being faced by the residents of the area. I have further instructed officials of the Nagar Palika of the area to look into the matter and submit a report,” he said.