Is 'Bulldozer' the right way to deal with radical Islam?

As the Jahangirpuri stone pelting incident shook the national capital on hanuman jayanti, the reprisals to that incident has also divided the nation sharply. While of course the LeLi (Left- Liberal) gang under the on ground leadership of Brinda Karat is opposing the bulldozer action on illegal construction, government supporters are jubilant to see some action against Stone pelters. But is either position on this issue correct? Let's find out…

 

 

 

While it is an old and tedious unsurprising of a LeLi leader like Karat to oppose this move while crying about the same old record of poor and marginalized, their opposition has a bit of a nuanced approach this time. Almost the entire opposition and LeLi gang is alleging that the government is taking a one sided action against the muslims of the area to punish the community. And since in the woke pyramid of oppression muslims are always oppressed they should be protected against the facist Modi government. Also particularly in India, LeLi politics of the entire opposition will die without the muslim vote bank, hence they must do everything to appease them. But this is the part almost all of us know already. I don't think anyone who follows Indian politics expects anything else from these parties or from the Supreme Court of India for that matter.

 

 

 

But the response from government supporters shows the intellectual innocence of the Indian ‘conservatives’. The initial response of any law abiding citizen would be to endorse it. But once you get over that initial reaction, you must understand that this is neither just nor effective. The response from pro government people is such because they are finally seeing some action against such elements by the government.

 

 

The ‘Bulldozer’ action by NDMC is not an adequate response. This action most likely won't stand a chance in the court of law, as well as it won't have a desired effect. Bulldozing the houses or shops will not stop the hate mongering from mosques and Madrassas, It will not compel the ring leaders to not spew hate against the Hindus. The Indian government should perhaps learn from the French government. Allegedly from a center left government, who has disallowed all the Maulavis to preach in mosques and madrassas without the official permission of the French Government. It is now mandatory for Maulavis to get government approval which the government will grant only to those who were trained under the French government and who will not spew any hate against the French people and the nation of France. Such a step can perhaps be an answer to restrict the radicalisation of muslims in India as well. But bulldozing the houses and shops will not give us this desired result.

 

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One clarification must be made that this bulldozer action was different from what UP CM Yogi Aadityanath has been doing in his state. In UP, Bulldozer action is the final hammer on the rioters, before that the government undertakes all the boring but absolutely crucial steps which don't make headlines. The UP government files adequate and necessary charges against the perpetrators, it goes in the courts or prepares lawyers for the possible actions in courts and then it undertakes the demolition. That is qualitatively different from what took place in Jahangirpuri under NDMC.

 

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Jhangirpuri stone pelting must also not be looked at as a solitary incident. Since 2019 itself, when the Modi government came back to power with a bigger majority, the opposition is unable to digest the defeat. Because of this, under the excuse of CAA-NRC we first saw Seelampur riots, then AMU violence, then Shaheen Bagh fiasco. The government did not take any strict actions against any of the rioters. Had the strictness of bulldozing shown back when Seelampur riots took place, none of the other stuff would've followed. This inaction gave opposition even more courage to do something more on another issue which they found in so called Farmers’ agitation, there as well government did not act strictly, not even when Red fort was vandalized by the alleged Khalistani elements of this agitation on the 26th january the republic day nevertheless. When opposition sees inaction on so many matters and incidents it results in blatant show of Islamists pelting stones on Hindus on Hanuman Jayanti in Jahangirpuri.

Again, just to contrast, in UP, stone pelters and rioters were dealt with adequate firmness by the state back when CAA agitation took place, which is why nothing happened in UP during Hanuman Jayanti because the Islamists know and fear the consequences of their actions in UP. That is the rule of law that the Yogi government has been able to establish in a vast and largely rural state of UP.

 

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Which is why Bulldozer action by the government is neither legitimate nor effective to stop such incidents happening again in the country.