Amrit Dhillon - Routine abuse of Delhi's maids laid bare as class divide spills into violence
The standoff between
cooks, cleaners, drivers and childminders of the rich, who last week stormed
across the well-manicured lawns at Mahaguna Moderne in Noida, a Delhi suburb,
has turned from violent to political. Dozens of people whom residents believe
took part in the angry uprising have been sacked, and in response trade unions
are calling for a boycott of all domestic help. There is fury at what
has been seen as the high-handed approach of a government minister who arrived
to talk to
residents before making racial slurs against the rioters and
refusing to meet slum dwellers.
The 100-strong group
of protesters consisted of workers who enter the high-rise complex daily yet
are forced to take different lifts and corridors to their employers, and even
have to use different glasses and taps to drink water. When Zohra Bibi, a
part-time maid, went missing, her husband went to the complex to demonstrate
together with his relatives and friends. It is claimed that
Mithul and Harshu Sethi and their children, for whom Bibi worked, were forced to
lock themselves inside their bathroom for safety as the mob stormed into their
huge condominium flat, damaging the marble walls and vandalising furniture.
The complex of plush
apartments has manicured lawns, a clubhouse, a gym and tennis courts. But just
300 metres away lies a filthy, muddy lane with greenish-black monsoon puddles
where the workers live in low, windowless tin sheds. Bricks and stones are used
to hold down roofs, and water has to be carried in plastic cans from a nearby
municipal tap. There are no toilets. The proximity of the
luxury towers, which loom over the slum, is like a taunt. When night falls, the
taunt becomes sharper as the lights come on in the flats while the hovels
remain dark.
These two extremes
generally co-exist peacefully. But on the morning of 13 July, the workers’
simmering resentment against the contempt of their employers erupted. When
Bibi, 30, failed to return home, her husband, Abdul Sattar, panicked. He
gathered his neighbours and marched to the gates of Mahaguna Moderne,
overpowering the security guards and heading inside. The violence was only
quelled when the police arrived.
In the hours that
followed, Bibi turned up safe and well. She claimed she had been hiding after
being attacked in the Sethi’s home, while the family claim they chased her out
of their house for stealing.
By what right did they
demolish our livelihoods? Just because they are rich? Because I’m poor, do I
have no rights? Bibi and her husband
were not at home when the Guardian visited; their shack was padlocked. Talking to maids and
drivers revealed the daily humiliations they face: not being allowed to use the
toilets that they are responsible for cleaning; being frisked when they leave
each day, to check for theft; one day’s leave a month; homes where the fridge
is locked to prevent the maid from eating any food; being prevented by security
guards from sitting on benches in the open areas.
“Work or leave. You’re
not here to rest. That’s what they said,” explains Asha Devi, a part-time maid
at the complex. She says her employer is a “good madam” but is always trying to
exploit her. “When I’m finished with the cleaning, she says: ‘Can you massage
my feet?’ Or she asks me to clean the fridge. And she won’t pay me extra.” Asked if she feels
humiliated by the apartheid-style separate lifts for residents and workers, she
shrugs. “What can I do? I am poor. I need the job to feed my children.” In the days after the
violence, workers were dubbed “illegal immigrants”; most are from West Bengal,
the majority Muslims. Workers were locked out of the complex until “security
concerns” had been addressed. Other condominiums followed suit.
Then electricity and
water supplies to the slums were cut off. The next morning, about 50 policemen
arrived with a bulldozer and demolished the 50 or so makeshift tea stalls and
shops selling fruit and vegetables that lined the main road from Mahaguna Moderne... read more:
