FP Report
NEW YORK: In India, shops and homes of Muslims are being demolished by state authorities using bulldozers as a collective form of punishment. JCB bulldozers have become synonymous with the oppression of Muslims as leaders and supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) use JCB bulldozers to spread their hate narrative.
Indian authorities have been enforcing arbitrary and punitive demolition of Muslim properties. The demolitions carried out without any due process have left many Muslims homeless or deprived of their livelihoods.
“Everyone at home was asleep that noon, from the fatigue of fasting for Ramzan. Suddenly we heard a lot of commotion outside. We came out and saw four or five JCB machines coming towards our house. The machines directly attacked our house. We weren’t given any notice, nothing.” said Hasina Bi, 56-year-old widow from Madhya Pradesh.
Among the machinery used in demolitions, those manufactured by JCB have gained distinct popularity. JCB’s name has become a generic term for bulldozers in India, as highlighted by Amnesty International’s interviews with victims of demolitions in five states across India. Additionally, BJP political leaders routinely allude to JCB machines as a tool to punish Muslims.
Popularly known as “bulldozer justice”, the punitive demolitions have been hailed and celebrated by political leaders and supporters of the ruling BJP in India. In April 2022, a BJP spokesperson, equated JCB with “Jihadi Control Board” in a now-deleted tweet.
JCB cannot evade responsibility while its machines are repeatedly used to inflict human rights abuses by Indian authorities. The company must publicly condemn the use of its machinery to punitively demolish Muslim properties in India which is a blatant human rights violation. JCB must say no to hate. JCB must say no to
