From Yogi to Jahangirpuri: The rise of the Bulldozer Raj

The bulldozers are the new symbol of power in several BJP-rules state governments

“They could have at least spared the water pipes and the taps,” mumbled Jalaluddin, as he sat on a broken chair near the remnants of what was his home at Jahangirpuri in north-west Delhi. “We don’t even have water to drink”. The 74-year-old had shifted from West Bengal to the national capital territory nearly four decades back and sold vegetables to eke out a living for him and his family of seven. They all lived together in the small house till parts of it were razed by one of the bulldozers, which the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), run by the Bharatiya Janata Party, sent on April 20. Jalaluddin pleaded with the civic officials to spare his home. So did Akbar and his wife Rahima for their cold drinks kiosk, Sajid for his small electronics shop and Sameer for his snacks stall. So did countless others like them. But the officials, guarded by a large posse of policemen, paid no heed to them. The bulldozers continued to wreak havoc, demolishing homes and shops and shattering lives – allegedly even after the Supreme Court issued a stay order.

It was during the first stint of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh that the bulldozers started emerging as the symbol of state power as the machines were widely used to raze allegedly ‘illegal’ houses and business establishments of criminals, mostly the ones belonging to the minority community. The BJP used it to claim credit for “restoring law and order” and to ‘bulldoze’ its opponents in the recently concluded assembly polls in the state, winning a second five-year-term in power.

Also Read | Jahangirpuri demolition: Arbitrary, illegal, violation of rights

Adityanath’s counterparts in other BJP-ruled states, like Bhupendrabhai Patel in Gujarat and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, have now apparently taken the cue from him and resorted to the use of bulldozers – often to demolish properties of the minority community after communal clashes – as they prepare to face assembly elections later this year and the next year.

A team of civic authorities at Khambhat in Anand district of Gujarat of late razed about seven to eight kiosks and push-carts, which belonged to some of the persons accused of attacking a religious procession on the occasion of Ram Navami earlier this month. The local authorities claimed that the kiosks and carts, mostly selling tea, paan and cigarettes, were removed in a drive started to free government lands from illegal encroachments. A lawyer, who was helping some of the people accused in connection with the attack on Ram Navami procession, however, claimed that “the local authority razed the shops without giving them any notice or ultimatum”. He also claimed that the shop owners had been paying taxes for using the properties for a long time.

Also Read | Switch off bulldozers of hate, switch on power plants: Rahul Gandhi to govt amid Jahangirpuri razing

In Khargone and Raisen districts of Madhya Pradesh, scores of houses, shops and other establishments were razed after their owners or members of the families of the owners were accused of pelting stones during Ram Navami processions. Incidentally, among the houses razed were those which had been constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna – the flagship housing scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

No wonder, Chouhan has earned the nickname of “Bulldozer Mama” in social media and political discourse in Madhya Pradesh, just as Patel is being referred to as “Bulldozer Dada” – just like Adityanath, who was nicknamed as “Bulldozer Baba”.

Even in Delhi, where civic polls are expected to take place a few months later, the bulldozers rolled into Jahangirpuri on April 20 after the chief of the BJP’s unit in the National Capital Territory, Adesh Gupta, wrote to the municipal corporation, controlled by the saffron party itself, and sought actions against ‘rioters’ allegedly responsible for the recent communal clashes.

The opposition parties and the human rights activists have questioned indiscriminate use of bulldozers without due process of law, calling it a blatant violation of the Constitution. The BJP, however, appears to be unfazed and is rather preparing to reap political dividends of demolishing homes, shops and other properties of the alleged criminals and people accused of rapes and communal violence.

The Supreme Court, which was approached by some senior lawyers seeking to stop the demolition drive being carried out in Delhi, questioned the wisdom of using bulldozers to remove some tables and chairs. There wouldn’t be two opinions about the need for removing encroachments and reclaiming government land. But the question was what was the tearing hurry to roll bulldozers and wreak havoc in a locality, which had just witnessed communal violence. In Uttar Pradesh, where it all started, indiscriminate use of the bulldozers by the authorities now turned into a cause of worry for the ruling dispensation after reports of demolition of huts and shops of the poor in many parts of the state started coming in, particularly after Yogi Adityanath commenced his second term as the chief minister.

“Modiji says we are his sisters, but, in UP, his party’s government has been demolishing our houses, even though we have all the necessary documents to prove that they are legal,’’ said a 50-year old Muslim woman standing before her flattened house in Moradabad.

Ravi Kumar, whose roadside tea stall was razed by the authorities in Noida, tried to stop the demolition by lying before the machine, but the cops hit him with sticks repeatedly and forcibly took him away. ‘’Ye Baba (Adityanath) ka bulldozer hai…rukega nahin’’ (It is Baba’s bulldozer and it won’t stop), an official told Ravi, implying that the wrecking machine was sent on the orders of Yogi Adityanath himself.

Apparently wary of a possible backlash, Adityanath, however, of late directed the officials not to ‘target’ the houses and shops owned by the poor and use the bulldozers to demolish the properties of the criminals only. Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General (Law and Order) of Uttar Pradesh Police, was at pains to explain if all necessary legal formalities were completed before proceeding with the demolition of the structures which were illegal and built on government lands or on lands acquired illegally. “Bulldozers are not used until the legal requirements are completed,” he added.

The lawyers, however, say that demolishing any property without following the due process of law is illegal and violation of the Constitution. ‘’The authorities can seal the properties of those prosecuted under the Gangster’s Act, but demolishing the properties without first hearing the owners is illegal,’’ said a lawyer, based in Lucknow.

The reports about officials in Uttar Pradesh demolishing the allegedly ‘illegal’ structures owned by the opposition party leaders and the minority community members continued to come in. A petrol pump owned by the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Shehjil Islam was demolished in Bareilly within days after he allegedly made an objectionable remark against the chief minister. In Banda district, the business establishment of another politician, who had switched over from the BJP to the SP before the assembly polls, was also bulldozed. “Everything was legal as long as I was in the BJP…it became illegal after I joined the rival party,’’ said the SP leader.

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