NEW DELHI
\nBulldozers, invented 100 years ago, have been used across the world to build homes, offices, roads and other infrastructures, but in recent years, they have become a weapon in the hands of India\u2019s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to destroy homes and livelihoods of the minority Muslim community, says BBC in its fresh report.
\nThe report says that nowhere are these excavators more visible than in the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh state of India. \u201cTheir latest outing was last Sunday when authorities in the city of Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) tore down the home of political activist Javed Mohammad, alleging that it had been illegally built \u2013 a claim his family denied.
\nCritics said the real reason behind the demolition had nothing to do with the alleged illegality of the building and that he was being punished for being a vocal critic of the [BJP] government.
\nA day before the demolitions, police had arrested him, accusing him of being the \u201cmastermind\u201d behind violent protests in the city by Muslims against controversial remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Nupur Sharma, a former BJP leader. BJP leaders have defended their actions, saying \u201cnothing is done against the law\u201d.
\nBut the demolitions \u2013 which have drawn some comparison with Israel\u2019s use of heavy machinery in the Palestinian territories \u2013 have been criticised in India and made headlines globally, with critics saying there is \u201conly the thinnest veneer of legality covering this official action\u201d and that they \u201care bulldozing over the very spirit of the law\u201d.
\nIn a rare move, former judges and eminent lawyers wrote a letter to the country\u2019s chief justice saying the use of bulldozers was \u201can unacceptable subversion of the rule of law\u201d and urged the court to act against the \u201cviolence and repression against Muslim citizens\u201d.
\nYogi Adityanath\u2019s supporters came to his election rallies with toy bulldozers
\nIn a strongly-worded column in the Indian Express newspaper, former federal minister Kapil Sibal wrote that \u201ca bulldozer has no relevance to illegal structures, but has relevance to who I am and what I stand for\u201d, said the BBC report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Bulldozers, invented 100 years ago, have been used across the world to build homes, offices, roads and other infrastructures, but in recent years, they have become a weapon in the hands of India\u2019s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to destroy homes and livelihoods of the minority Muslim community, says BBC in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267158,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8752,8645,195,3589],"class_list":{"0":"post-267139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-bulldozers","10":"tag-india","11":"tag-injustice"},"yoast_head":"\n