Along with lynchings, Muslims in India’s “double-engine” states face the additional spectre of their houses being bulldozed on the flimsiest pretexts.
The latest performance of this dark carnival occurred in Ujjain on July 19, when the authorities in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh – no doubt with the tacit approval of the party government at the Centre – bulldozed the home of a family whose sons had been accused by Hindutva supporters of spitting on a Hindu procession. Officials claimed that the three-storeyed building was dilapidated.
As if the tragedy of the demolition of a family’s home was not enough to assuage the sadism of the police and municipal authorities, in this instance, the destruction was conducted in an atmosphere of revelry. The demolition proceeded to the accompaniment of drummers and chants of “Govinda, Govinda” playing over the electronic music.
Some police official must have come up with this brilliant idea, which he got approved by his superiors because the drummers and music system had to be paid for. Or perhaps they had to perform for free because the demolition was nationalist.
This fiesta of chaos orchestrated by Madhya Pradesh government officials to escalate oppression and perpetuate an environment of fear and helplessness among the persecuted should terrify…
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