India has demolished at least ten homes over the last week belonging to suspected rebels in the region after 26 people were killed in an attack in Pahalgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir, in April.
The ongoing demolitions have sparked anger with locals, who call the punishment an “Israeli tactic”.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a meeting with the military’s top brass in New Delhi, gave India’s armed forces “complete operational freedom.”
“It was dark when the Indian armed forces cordoned off the village in large numbers and directed us to leave our houses,” Ashiq Ahmad, a villager, told MEE.
“After some time, the earth beneath our feet shook,” Ashiq said, describing the explosion they heard from a mosque some distance away, where locals had been forcibly held for hours.
“When we came out after two hours, we found many houses destroyed and razed to the ground,” he said. “We were mourning the whole night.”
I may not agree with many things you say but you’re absolutely right in this case. Although this ‘bulldozer justice’ is not specific to Kashmir or even Muslims, (though they were disproportionately targeted) it is illegal. The SC ruled it was, but in BJP ruled states, this ruling was useless and they went ahead and did it anyway. One guy who was accused of cheering for Pakistan in Maharashtra watched his house get bulldozed with no proof or eyewitness. There was literally a video of people standing outside their houses with all required documents, and the entire lane was bulldozed. There were 700 farmers in Gujarat whose houses were bulldozed and their names were deleted from the voter list, so they couldn’t vote. It happens every week, and it is always poor people’s houses, in large parts of the country (not every state). There is generally no warrant, no notice, no warning, no FIR, absolutely nothing. The victims are usually poor people, Muslims and Hindus. Your house could get razed even for crimes as minor as offending some minister, or being an activist. In fact, bulldozing for murder or sexual assault is rare, it generally goes unpunished because India is a patriarchal, religious society.