Is there anything that ties the humble tomato with a smartphone, bulldozer, manhole cover and an Aadhaar card? When objects speak, what do they reveal about our living conditions? With Talking Things, The Wire takes a deeper look at how these mundane objects have evolved against the backdrop of the Modi-led Union government’s decade-long tenure.
Delhi/Khargone/Lucknow: Two years after bulldozers rolled into north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri, demolishing stores and businesses mostly belonging to Muslims, Sheikh Akbar, stands outside the new shop that he has rebuilt after the demolition.
“No one has come to meet us in the last two years. Only I know how I have rebuilt my shop and everything I have gone through,” he said with tears filling his eyes.
Akbar’s shop was among a row of other businesses that were demolished in Jahangirpuri on April 20, 2022. Four days before the bulldozers came, a shobha yatra had been organised to mark Hanuman Jayanti in Jahangirpuri, which was followed by a communal flare-up.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
A pattern
First seen in Uttar Pradesh under chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who has been called “bulldozer baba”, it has since spread to Madhya Pradesh, where former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan came to be referred to as “bulldozer mama”. Similar drives have also been seen in Delhi, Haryana, Assam, Uttarakhand and Mumbai.
The bulldozers often, but not always, come after a particular chronology of events — a religious procession, communal violence, demolitions.
An Amnesty International report in February said that Muslims were targeted in 128 such demolitions that affected 617 people.
In the report, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General said, “The unlawful demolition of Muslim properties by the Indian authorities, peddled as ‘bulldozer justice,’ is cruel and appalling. Such displacement and dispossession are deeply unjust, unlawful, and discriminatory.”
From demolitions following communal riots, to forced evictions over allegations of encroachment, ‘bulldozer justice’ has defined justice delivery in the Modi years.
The bulldozer has found pride of place in election rallies and been trumpeted by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who stated at a rally last week, that the opposition must learn “where to run bulldozers”. Legal recourse has done little to stop such actions.
Jahangirpuri, Delhi
On April 19, 2022, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta wrote a letter to North Delhi Municipal Corporation mayor Raja Iqbal Singh. Gupta had demanded the MCD bulldoze encroachments of “anti-social elements and rioters”.
The next day, the NDMC undertook an “encroachment removal” drive in Jahangirpuri despite a stay order by the Supreme Court that came at around 11 am that day.
“My shop was demolished at around 11.30am, well after the Supreme Court order. When bulldozers came towards my shop, my wife tried to stop them and asked them why they were demolishing our shop. But they did not give any answers,” said Akbar.
MCD certificate at Akbar’s shop before it was demolished. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta/The Wire
In his shop that was demolished, there were two fridges, stacked with cold drinks, water, and other juices. His younger son’s photograph went viral after the demolition, as the nine-year-old attempted to gather the pieces of the demolished goods. It took Akbar a loan of Rs 3 lakh from a bank to rebuild his shop over the course of the next three months. A loan that he is still paying off in installments, two years later.
While the bulldozer action was aimed at encroachments of “anti-social elements and rioters”, Akbar said that when the violence first started during the shobha yatra, he quickly shut his shop and went up to his house that stands just behind. His shop also had a vending certificate from the NDMC but that did not stop authorities from demolishing it.
“Earlier municipal authorities would come for checks, see my certificate and move on. But that day they were not interested in checking whether the property was legal or illegal. The bulldozers started rolling from my shop, along with the one just across and went all the way up to the masjid where it finally stopped just short of the mandir,” Akbar said.
“Politicians come before elections, conduct rallies, take our votes and go. In India, every attempt is being made to ensure how Muslims can be held down (kaise dabake rakhna hai),” he added.
Across the road from Akbar’s shop stands Gupta Juice Corner, owned by Ganesh Kumar Gupta — a self proclaimed BJP supporter. His shop was demolished alongside Akbar’s. Now sitting inside his rebuilt shop, Gupta said that it had been allotted to his father in 1977 under DDA (Delhi Development Authority) land.
“I asked them to see my papers. If it is illegal, go ahead and demolish it. But at least see my papers. I told them about the Supreme Court order. But they did not listen to anything,” he said. It took him eight months to rebuild his shop after empty promises of help from both the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP.
“This was their way of delivering a message to rioters. But instead they demolished the properties of the common man. Such bulldozer action is wrong. Courts should decide whether one is a rioter or not, whether one is guilty or not,” he said.
Gupta’s case is in court but has not made much headway in the last two years. “You know how long court cases take. Even though I am a BJP supporter, this action was wrong. This is tanashahi (authoritarianism),” he said.
Khargone, Madhya Pradesh
The demolition drive in Delhi came close on the heels of similar drives in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and Gujarat’s Khambhat, where alleged encroachments came under bulldozers after communal violence in the area.
Hasina Fakhroo, a widow, whose house was built under the PM Awas Yojana, was demolished in Khargone following communal riots on Ram Navami in April 2022.
Left: Hasina Farooki shows court documents that include a photo of her standing outside her PMAY house; Right: Her photo with the PM Awas Yojana stamp on her house. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta/The Wire
“There was no violence or unrest in our area. Our house was quite far away from where the riots took place. But just because of the riots, they came and demolished my house without giving any warning,” she said.
Both Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have also passed laws — the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and The Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property and Recovery of Damages Act 2021— that “legalise” such demolitions.
Amjad Khan outside his new bakery at same spot where it was demolished in April 2022. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta/The Wire
While not much can be said about the exactitude of the Acts, their implementation can do with some precision. Amjad Khan, owner of Best Bakery in Khargone’s Karim Nagar, said that his bakery was demolished after the authorities confused him with another bakery owner in the area, also named Amjad, who was named as an accused in the violence.
Khan, who has moved the Madhya Pradesh high court against the demolition, said that while in India the idea of “bulldozer justice” first became synonymous with the Adityanath government, the pattern is that of Israel’s actions in Palestine.
“Yogiji has copied Israel’s model. This is done to instill fear by demolishing houses and businesses so that no one raises their voice,” said Khan.
“Contrary to all canons of law”
While bulldozers have come to be associated with “justice” under the BJP-led Modi government, legal experts say that such actions are against the rule of law.
“Bulldozer justice is contrary to all canons of law. A person’s home cannot be demolished only because he has participated in communal violence or a riot or committed some illegal act,” said Justice Madan B. Lokur, former judge in the Supreme Court.
“The law prescribes punishments for criminal offences and demolition of a person’s home is definitely not one of the prescribed punishments. Even if the law is amended and demolition of a person’s home is incorporated as a punishment, I have no doubt that it will be declared unconstitutional by every court.”
However, bulldozer action has not been limited to punitive action following communal violence as in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj and Haryana’s Nuh. In Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, authorities arrived with bulldozers to demolish ‘Malik ke Bagiche’ ka Madarsa in February, this year. In the same month, a demolition drive in Delhi left one of the heroes of the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue team homeless.
A report titled Forced Evictions in India 2022-2023 by the Housing and Land Rights Network in March noted that in these two years, over 1.5 lakh homes were demolished, evicting more than 7.4 lakh persons across the country.
“The reasons for these evictions are varied, but the pain and suffering faced by those who lose their homes remains a poignant reminder to the rest of us of the price people have to pay for urban development, infrastructure creation, and environmental conservation, or even for ‘beautification’ of cities,” the report noted.
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
In the heart of Uttar Pradesh’s capital city Lucknow, about 15,000 residents of Akbar Nagar are living in fear that their homes will be demolished any day. Their homes, shops and establishments have been marked with large red crosses.
About two dozen shops in the working class neighbourhood have already been demolished in the area in February and over 40 houses were demolished in December last year.
The demolitions come as a part of the Kukrail riverfront redevelopment project along the Kukrail Nala, that runs adjacent to Akbar Nagar. While some of the residents whose homes were demolished have been relocated to houses under PM Awas Yojana, but for those who lost their livelihoods after the demolitions, life has come to a standstill.
Parvez at the rubble of his shop which is yet to be cleared. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta/The Wire
Mohammad Parvez Khan, who owned a furniture shop in the area found his source of livelihood demolished on February 27. Residents said that the bulldozer action started minutes after the Allahabad high court dismissed pleas filed by 24 occupants of the commercial spaces against the demolitions.
“The court order came and they immediately started demolishing our shops. The shop was started by my father and he ran it through his lifetime and I have been running it for several years now. They did not allow us to even get close to the shop. All goods, including material like plywood got destroyed. Everything was over within minutes,” said Khan.
But the demolition has not only snatched Khan’s livelihood. The six other men who he employed at his shop also lost their source of income when Khan’s shop was demolished.
Right across the street from Khan’s shop, stood Mehraj Ahmed’s tour and travels office.
“We did not even know that the court order had come and the demolitions started. The proposed riverfront is at least 500 metres away from where our shops were. Yet our shops were demolished,” he said.
A petition challenging the demolitions was filed in the Supreme Court a day after the bulldozer action. The matter is subjudice.
‘We were here before the development authority was formed’
A separate case against the proposed demolition of houses in Akbar Nagar is also in the Supreme Court. These demolitions, if carried out, could affect 1500 residents.
Imran Raja, a resident of Akbar Nagar who has been at the forefront of the legal battle, said that show cause notices were issued to residents in September and October 2023.
Plaque at Akbar Nagar. Photo: Sravasti Dasgupta/The Wire
“The notices said that the houses were located in the flood zone of the Kukrail Nala and that they were built without LDA (Lucknow Development Authority)’s approval. We gave our response to the LDA and said that we have been living here since independence. The structures were built even before LDA was formed in 1973. All governments have developed this area. There is even a plaque in our MP Rajnath Singh’s name from just three months before the notices were issued,” he said.
On May 10, the Supreme Court upheld the demolitions to be conducted by the LDA against unauthorised constructions in Akbar Nagar but also held that dwellers not be removed till alternate arrangements are made. On May 22, a review petition was filed against the Supreme Court order.
‘Inextricably linked with discrimination against Muslims’
According to Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, the destruction of Muslim homes and businesses is “inextricably linked with the current Indian government’s rising discrimination against the Muslim community.”
“The widespread impunity afforded to municipal authorities, district heads and police officials for the forced evictions, ill-treatment and excessive use of force has contributed to a never-ending cycle of violations of right to housing, work, health, education, freedom of expression and access to a fair trial,” he said.
According to Justice Lokur, while bulldozers are being used against violators in cases of illegal constructions, authorities have been spared. “So far, only violators are punished and no action is taken against the authorities who turn a blind eye to illegal constructions.”
Rule of law and human rights
With the haste to use bulldozers only becoming more rampant, the ball now lies in the judiciary’s court, both literally and figuratively, to deliver justice.
“Bulldozer justice ignores natural justice and procedural requirements. In many cases, bulldozer justice is a form of collective punishment for which there is no warrant,” said Justice Lokur.
“Each case has to be examined individually. The courts must interfere in situations of bulldozer justice, otherwise the rule of law might as well be forgotten,” he added.
As India looks at the formation of a new government at the centre, Patel said that there is a critical and urgent responsibility to ensure that “the human rights of everyone in India — including religious minorities and other marginalised groups — are promoted and protected.”
“This includes addressing past human rights violations by ensuring that investigations are carried out into these punitive demolitions and that accountability, compensation and justice is provided to all survivors.”
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