NEW DELHI — The wave of bulldozer demolitions targeting Muslim homes across India has intensified, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring such actions unconstitutional.
Dozens of houses have been razed in recent weeks, mostly in Muslim-majority neighborhoods, in what critics describe as state-backed retaliation rather than justice.
Human rights organizations report that these demolitions are being carried out without legal notice, judicial approval, or due process. Bulldozers have now become a symbol of power and fear under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — a political tool often used to target Muslim communities.
In Uttar Pradesh, after walls were decorated with “I Love Muhammad” posters on the Prophet’s birthday in September, the government launched a crackdown — dozens of Muslim homes were demolished, and over 100 people were arrested under accusations of promoting religious disharmony.
Between April and June 2022, data shows that 128 buildings were demolished across five states, mostly owned by Muslims, leaving more than 600 people homeless and deprived of their businesses and places of worship.
A recent report further revealed that between 2019 and 2023, over 738,000 people have been displaced, with most demolitions occurring in Muslim-dominated regions.
Analysts link this pattern to the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — a vision that seeks to reshape India as a Hindu-only nation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP government, they say, continues to advance this agenda through citizenship laws, restrictions on protests, and limitations on mosques and Islamic symbols.
Even after the Supreme Court’s intervention, the bulldozers haven’t stopped — a grim reminder that in Modi’s India, justice has been replaced by vengeance, and the homes, hopes, and histories of millions are being buried in dust — merely for being Muslim.
