Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Nov 16, 2024

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, Nov 16, 2024

Via its recent ruling on ‘Bulldozer justice’ once more the Supreme Court has spoken up for respect of the rule of law — it has stated clearly that arbitrary demolition by public authorities, of the properties of citizens, including those accused or convicted of criminals is unacceptable and has set down parameters. It took thousands of people to become homeless in multiple states of India (considerable numbers of these are from minority groups or are economically weak) ruled by the BJP before the top court stepped in. Now many questions are being asked about compensation, reparations for those affected and punitive action on officials who ordered these perversions using their official status. The big question is will the authorities in BJP-ruled states respect the court ruling and implement it. A clear public sentiment of prejudice and bias against minorities was politically mobilised & cultivated that supported ideas of instant justice and intolerance for democracy. The public that supported these illegal actions has not gone away; We should also recall that past rulings on issues of hate speech and cow vigilantism have not been implemented by governments and police. India never followed such perverted state practices in the past and but the right-wing eco-system in India has imported such practices from elsewhere the best example of this is the arbitrary use of bulldozers by the colonial powers in Israel to flatten properties of Palestinian farmers & opponents. Major national opposition parties that are currently campaigning in assembly elections must show support for this Supreme court ruling and pledge to implement it if they come to power. The opposition-ruled states in India must also commit to respecting checks and balances that maintain the separation of powers real in the administration of justice at all levels and bring in the concept of reparations so that state wrongdoing doesn’t go unchecked.

November 16, 2024 —HK