'Bulldozer Raj': Indian Muslims hail top court's ruling on home demolitions

India's top court declared on Wednesday that it would be "totally unconstitutional" to demolish a citizen's home simply because he is an accused or even a convicted person, especially without following the legal due process.

The court also imposed a nationwide prohibition on "bulldozer justice."

On Thursday, most opposition parties in India welcomed the top court's verdict. They linked the bulldozer action to the oppression perpetrated by the ruling BJP on Muslims, saying that "now the oppression of minorities will stop."

The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress said the verdict would end the “jungle raj” — Jungle rule.

Speaking to Press Trust of India, a spokesperson of the party said: "We welcome the apex court's decision. Hopefully, this decision will end the jungle raj (Jungle rule) in Uttar Pradesh.”

The parties also demanded compensation of at least $30,000 for the victims of the bulldozer action.

"The homes and properties of Muslims have been the primary targets of bulldozer action. The bulldozers were used to target Muslims. There are numerous instances of areas with a majority of Muslims being destroyed," the National Spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party, an important ally in the opposition alliance told ETV Bharat.

The party also posted X hailing the SC decision and terming the "bulldozer action" as "totally unjust, unfair, unconstitutional, and illegal."

A key Muslim politician and Parliament member, Asaduddin Owaisi also welcomed the SC verdict in his X post, saying, "The Bulldozer judgement of the Supreme Court is a welcome relief. The most important part of it is not in its eloquence but in the enforceable guidelines. Hopefully, they will prevent state governments from collectively punishing Muslims and other marginalised groups."

He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had celebrated "bulldozer raj (bulldozer rule)," which the SC called "a lawless state of affairs."

"We should remember that no less than Narendra Modi has celebrated Bulldozer Raj, which SC today called a lawless state of affairs," Owaisi wrote.

'If you speak up, your house will be demolished'

Responding to the recent verdict of the Supreme Court of India condemning "bulldozer justice”, Aakar Patel, chair of the board at Amnesty International India, said:

"The judgement condemning unlawful demolitions as 'unacceptable' from the Supreme Court of India is a late but welcome move in upholding the rights of the people. This is a big win in ending the deeply unjust, widespread, unlawful and punitive demolitions, mostly targeting the minority Muslim community, by the Indian authorities which have often been peddled as 'bulldozer justice' by ruling party political leaders and media.

According to the data collected by rights groups, Indian authorities demolished over 153,820 homes, thereby forcefully evicting over 738,438 people from their homes, across rural and urban India in 2022 and 2023.

According to Amnesty International's report titled: "If you speak up, your house will be demolished", rather than preventing discrimination towards Muslims, senior political leaders and government officials have actively encouraged "bulldozer justice".

According to the report, "In India's Uttar Pradesh state, which is a frontrunner in punitive demolitions, this practice started with targeting those peacefully protesting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2020, a discriminatory law enacted to make hundreds of thousands of Muslims stateless.

In another instance, in 2023 Muslim activists demanded action against the BJP spokesperson for making blasphemous comments, that were deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. But in turn, the homes of these activists were demolished.