The Turkman gate demolition and firing was an infamous case of

political oppression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereb ...

and police brutality during the Emergency when the police shot and killed people protesting against demolitions of their houses ordered by Indira Gandhi's government in 1976. An official account of the number of people killed at Turkman gate is not available and the media was not allowed to cover the riot and massacre. One local guide claimed that nine of his friends were killed by police. More than ten bulldozers razed unauthorized houses and police fired on those protesting

slum clearance Slum clearance, slum eviction or slum removal is an urban renewal strategy used to transform low income settlements with poor reputation into another type of development or housing. This has long been a strategy for redeveloping urban communities; ...

Background

During the Emergency, Indira Gandhi's government, prompted by her son Sanjay, launched the demolition drive to cleanse

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

of slums and force poor residents to leave Delhi and move to distant settlements. The residents of Turkman Gate, refused to move as they stayed there from Mughal period (this was an internal part of the walled city) and would have to commute every day paying heavy bus fares to reach the city to earn their living. They resisted the bulldozing of their houses. On 18 April 1976, the police opened fire on protesters killing several of them. The government, who had earlier imposed censorship, ordered the newspapers not to report the massacre. The Indian public learned of the killings through foreign media such as the BBC. It was later reported that protesters were run over by bulldozers, resulting in several deaths.

Total deaths

Shah Commission report recorded statements of police officers and one officer admitted that at least twenty civilians died from gunfire.

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