A new kind of criminal (in)justice system came into existence in India a few years ago. It is called ‘Bulldozer Raj’ — or the rule of Bulldozers.
The Origin
It started with a statement that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Aditya Nath made at a function in Allahabad (now renamed Prayag Raj) city, where he said his government would bulldoze the houses of those who even thought of any criminal activity. (Newspapers reported this statement on September 6, 2017).
Ever since it has been a series of tragic comedy of errors, with complete disregard to the judiciary. No hearing, no trial, no judgment. Cut straight to punishment.
Which means anything that the government or police did not like, there was immediate action: demolish the houses of the accused. Well, in almost all the cases, only if the accused belonged to a certain community. Not surprisingly, soon it became a tool to scare anyone who spoke against the government.
It works almost like the so-called ‘encounters’, minus the burden of making up false evidence that the other party tried to attack the police.
It was first used to raze down houses and properties of several people in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in the year 2020. In some cases it belonged to ‘gangsters’, and in many others the government justified saying the properties were illegal. UP went on to do more of such stuff in 2021. In the UP legislative assembly elections of 2022, Yogi Adityanath used it as a political tool and called himself ‘Bulldozer baba’.
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat
Seeing how simple and effective it was, othet BJP-ruled states followed the suite. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and also started resporting to Bulldozers to demolish the houses and other properties of people who belonged to the minority community every time there was a communal clash.
In 2022, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan used bulldozer on property of the accused in several cases – it involved gangsters, rape cases, rioting and kidnapping accused – in places like Seoni, Sheopur, Jaora, Shahdol and Raisen. Following clashes in the town of Khargone on 10 April 2022 during Ram Navami processions, 16 houses and 29 shops were demolished by Chouhan’s government.
In Khambat and Anand districts of Gujarat, the Government razed down kiosks and push-carts that belonged to persons accused of attacking a religious procession on the occasion of Ram Navami. The local authorities claimed they were ‘illegal’. There was no notice served, they were not asked to clear up, if it was indeed so. The lawyer of the accused people claimed they were paying taxes for those properties for a long time.
Chouhan earned the nickname of “Bulldozer Mama” and Gujarat chief minister Bhipendrabhai Patel was referred to as “Bulldozer Dada”, following the footsteps of the ‘Bulldozer Baba’.
Uttarakhand and Karnataka
In another BJP-ruled state Uttarakhand, in 2022 April, police erected Bulldozers in Muslim-dominated areas in connection to violence erupted in connection with Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. In Karnataka also, BJP leaders and supporters called for emulation of the ‘Bulldozer model’ of UP to deal with ‘communal violence’. BJP State President Nalin Kumar Kateel and Minister for Power V. Sunil Kumar warned that if people do not cooperate to maintain peace, they will have to cooperate with bulldozers. However, to the relief of the people, the then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai clarified that the situation in the state did not warrant any such action.
Delhi – Jehangirpuri
In 2022 April, The North Delhi Municipal Corporation used the Bulldozers to ‘settle’ the clashes that broke out during a Hanuman Jayanti procession. on people of Jehangirpuri who belong to a certain minority community. There were investigative reports on how the Jahangirpuri Demolition destroyed the lives of India’s poorest women.
Supreme Court intervened and stayed further demolitions, but much of the damage was done already. Senior Advocate and Congress MP Kapil Sibal asked for an order that would apply nationwide but Supreme Court said it was not necessary. Justice Nageswara Rao asked, “Once we have passed orders in one case, you still think something will happen?”
However, that was not the end of the ‘Bulldozer Raj’.
It continued, though relatively less in numbers.
Latest, in Maharashtra 2024
Many structures and settlements were razed with bulldozers on Jan 23 2024 in the Naya Nagar area of Mira Road in Mumbai. As per Maharashtra govt (led by BJP and Shiv Sena), a stone pelting incident took place in Naya Nagar area on the occasion of Ram Mandir ‘Prana Pratishtha’. These demolitions were directly linked to that, though the government justified them by saying the structures were illegal.
Again in UP
Coming back to Uttar Pradesh, social activist Mohammad Javed was arrested and their family house was bulldozed by the authorities as he was involved in protests over comments made against Prophet Muhammad by some BJP leaders.
His daughter (and ex-JNU student leader) Afreen Fatima tweeted this in December 2022: “It has been 6 months since the unjust incarceration of Abbu. I can write about how brave he has been, anecdotes from his life. But none of it matters for we live in a state that is cruel and vicious. All that matters is that it’s been 6 months and counting.”
Criticism in Media
Though the opposition to Bulldozer Raj has not found much political mileage yet in the mainstream, some mainstream media have shown the courage to criticize it vehemently. The most striking of them was a piece titled ‘Jahangirpuri demolition: Arbitrary, Illegal, violation of rights: Bulldozer politics is unconstitutional, hate-filled‘, that appeared in The Deccan Herald on 22 April 2022. A couple of others were ‘It all started with a bulldozer in Jahangirpuri‘, Indian Express, May 2022 and ‘Bulldozers crash into livelihoods at Delhi’s Jahangirpuri‘, The Times of India, April 2022.
When will this end?
Bulldozer raj is not a mean of justice, it is just another situation of complete lawlessness. A civil society has to fight such injustice and make sure a proper trial and court procedure happens before any punishment is meted out. Even worse, it has become a tool to silence any kind of protests.
Let us hope that an upcoming Congress-led Government at the center would put an end to this nonsense.