‘Bulldozer Justice’ climb Uttarakhand hills
‘Bulldozer Justice’ climb Uttarakhand hills
S.M.A.KAZMI
Dehradun , Feb 15
‘Bulldozer Justice’, a form of instant justice started by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state governments in dealing with Muslim minority community, has reached Uttarakhand also. In a first, Kashipur police in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand today demolished the house of a Muslim youth allegedly involved in attacking a Hindu girl few days ago in the town. Kashipur is a nearby town of Haldwani where curfew is still enforce after violence following demolition of a mosque and a madrassa and subsequent police firing which claimed six lives and injuries to hundreds on February 8, 2024.
According to Udham Singh Nagar police, the house of Muslim youth involved in the attack in Khalsa mohalla was built on encroached land and was demolished by the police using a bulldozer. According to media reports, Dr. Manju Nath TC, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) has announced that illegal properties of criminals would be demolished and confiscated in the district.
It was on February 12, that a Muslim youth attacked a girl with a sharp edged weapon who was going for tution along with her friends. The attacker ran away and passer bys and girl raised an alarm. The injured girl was admitted in the hospital. The culprit was arrested after few hours and is presently lodged in the jail. The family of the girl alleged that police cases were registered against the youth for harassing the girl in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Right wing Hindu organisations had been seeking strict action by the police in the case.
However, this is the first case of demolition against minority community members allegedly involved in any criminal activity. Such cases of instant ‘Bulldozer Justice’ were earlier reported from BJP ruled states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Amnesty International has released two reports condemning the widespread use of bulldozers to demolish Muslim homes, businesses, and places of worship across India. The reports, titled “If you speak up, your house will be demolished: Bulldozer Injustice in India” and “Unearthing Accountability: JCB’s Role and Responsibility in Bulldozer Injustice in India,” document these demolitions in five states and accuse authorities of using them as a form of “extra-judicial punishment” against the minority community. The five states are Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Amnesty International’s investigation revealed that these demolitions are often carried out with impunity, citing the recent example of Mira Road in Mumbai where homes were bulldozed after a Ram Temple rally turned violent.
Between April and June 2022 alone, Amnesty documented the punitive demolition of at least 128 properties, mostly belonging to Muslims, across the states of Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The demolitions directly impacted at least 617 people, rendering many families homeless or depriving them of their livelihoods.
In Uttarakhand, the state BJP government headed by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has started vigorous campaigns against ‘land jehad’, ‘love jehad’ and ‘Mazar jehad’ demolishing more than 350 ‘mazars’ (graves of muslim saints) in ‘anti-encroachment drive’ throughout the state.
