Bulldozer justice

Fascist governments around the world rarely come up with a different strategy when it comes to exerting their power. India – which has gone out on what can be called an all-out war against its largest minority community, Indian Muslims – is now following in the footsteps of Israel and using the ‘collective punishment’ tool to express its rage over the dissent and resistance it faces from the minority community. While Indian leaders might have thought that their theatrics have no critical audience, rights groups have finally paid attention to the rights violations in what used to be a proud democracy in South Asia. Amnesty International has called on Indian authorities to put an end to the unlawful demolitions of the properties of Indian Muslims. Ever since the rise of the BJP and its almost decade-long rule, India has been slowly transforming into a majoritarian state, with Hindutva ideology taking over the country.

As dissenting groups protest against the government, Indian authorities are using force against Indian Muslims to curb dissent and criticism. This suppression has now gone beyond arbitrary arrests. Indian authorities now use bulldozers to raze down the houses and commercial outlets of Indian Muslims, paralyzing them financially and emotionally and instilling fear in them. According to Amnesty International, Indian authorities razed down 128 properties, which has affected around 617 people whose livelihoods and houses have faced large-scale damage.

This collective punishment is now seen as a tool to force Indian Muslims and other minority communities to convince their ‘leaders’ or those who represent them to stop putting up any resistance to the government. It is also used as a way to sway people towards the government by showing them that their uncritical support for the government will keep them safe. These autocratic strategies deserve no place in a democracy. The BJP’s anti-Muslim rhetoric will one day come to bite it. A country’s economic growth and any perceived importance in the international community hold no value if its minority communities remain unsafe. Amnesty International has also openly cautioned the UK-based Joseph Cyril Bamford Excavators (JCB), whose bulldozers are extensively used for these unlawful demolitions, to condemn the use of its machinery for such illegal means. These actions can well be attributed to Indian leaders’ ambitions to restrict the ownership of land to only Hindus as repeated demolitions may make Indian Muslims financially weak, hurting their ability to purchase and maintain residential and commercial properties. Whatever the end goals are, the blatant misuse of power and authority has to stop. India should listen to the valid criticism it faces and must mend its ways.