By Burhan Majid
The Supreme Court’s judgment in the so-called “bulldozer justice” case is a damning indictment of executive overreach, state violence, and the abuse of power.
However, there is a tragedy embedded within it: the indictment equally applies to the court itself, and the wider judiciary, which for years stood by as mere spectators to the state of “lawlessness” that it now condemns. A “lawlessness” that, as the court notes, is symbolised by the “chilling sight of bulldozers demolishing homes.”
The court’s loaded language only serves to expose its own inaction and complicity in the devastating consequences of demolitions that have displaced hundreds of thousands of people, disproportionately Muslims, over the past few years. Since 2022, reports indicate that more than 1,50,000 homes have been demolished by bulldozer actions, leaving approximately 7,38,000 people homeless.
Notoriously branded as “bulldozer justice” by right-wing political groups, and in some cases, state officials, these demolitions have been portrayed as a form of extra-judicial retributive punishment against Muslims.
The bottom line is that even in cases where the court ultimately upholds the rights of individuals and the rule of law, this comes only after a prolonged silence, during which arbitrary
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
