Hopefully, Supreme Court has buried Bulldozer Justice

Mukesh Devrari

The Bulldozer justice is not justice. Irrespective of the crime, the criminal must be prosecuted through the courts. That is essential for establishing the rule of law and creating a civilized society. Undoubtedly, some of the crimes in India demand immediate justice due to the emotional reaction of people affected by the severity and nature of the crime. Still, the state must inform people that the judiciary's purpose is not punishment for revenge. The purpose is to reform the criminal. Revenge is not the purpose of the justice system in modern society. This debate has already been settled. In law books, India has kept capital punishment, but it is rarely used. In the last thirty years, barely 3-4 people have been hanged for committing heinous crimes. Two of them were involved in terrorist attacks, killing many civilians. 

This bulldozer justice by the UP government was particularly troublesome. There is no doubt most of the criminals in India belong to lower castes and minorities. The sociological reasons for the phenomenon have been discussed globally as to why particularly downtrodden communities are involved in crimes. In the US, blacks are the majority of incarcerated criminals in the jails. In New Zealand, the pacific islanders and Moaris are mostly behind bars. Similarly, in Bulldozer, the wrath of the government ended by demolishing the homes of criminals who are also part of the lower strata of Indian society. It does not look appropriate that the state is demolishing their homes, irrespective of the righteousness of the step, sometimes that involves soothing public anger. 

It has also been ignored by the domestic audience that the policy of demolishing homes has generated a lot of malice, hostility, and animosity against India internationally. Whether Indian nationalists like it or not, the international media highlighted that the BJP govt used Bulldozers mostly against Muslims involved in the crime. In contrast, others were not subjected to it. It is true to some extent that the BJP government was over-enthusiastic in targeting criminals belonging to the Muslim community. Right or wrong, only the BJP government and the people behind these decisions know better. As far as public perception is concerned, the BJP government is perceived as a ruling outfit that is trying to intimidate, bully and reduce Muslims to second-class citizens.  

The Supreme Court has protected India on many occasions. Unfortunately, the quality of elected members of Parliaments has gone down considerably over the last few decades. The people who are known for their credibility, character, and democratic credentials are increasingly finding it hard to contest elections due to the money involved and an angry communal population that is least bothered about democracy and progress and is mostly perceived as voting on emotive issues. As parliament failed in doing its duty, courts must intervene to pull the country to the right path. As Indians, we must understand we might have fate and destiny already decided by god, but nation-states don’t have a predefined destiny. We will become what we aspire to become. 

We must aim to create a civilized society where people love and respect each other irrespective of religious differences, where people are kind enough to accept and respect all faiths as equal, all paths leading to god as equal, and founders of all faiths as equal, where people can understand that literal meaning of texts produced in Middle ages and ancient times cannot be the basis of social customs and modern laws, where people have access to basic news of life, where everyone is capable of falling in love, making a family and raising children in safety and collective care of society, where all human lives are considered equal, where minimal economic wealth is universal. People have access to education, health, and state support in times of dire need, where people are seeking excellence in their chosen domains and making this world a better place to live. 

(The author is an independent writer.)