The ruling party’s opponents are punished with remarkable speed
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskAsk Jignesh Mevani, a member of the Gujarat state assembly. On April 18th Mr Mevani posted a tweet hinting that Narendra Modi, the prime minister, approves of Hindu-nationalist violence. This annoyed a reader in Assam, a state as far from Gujarat as Ukraine is from England, so much that he complained at his local police station.
Or ask residents of Jahangirpuri, a working-class part of Delhi, India’s capital. In mid-April a riot broke out in its narrow lanes after Hindu youths carrying swords, guns and clubs on what they called a religious procession stopped outside a mosque to insult the fasting worshippers inside. No one was badly hurt in the ensuing stone-throwing, but three days later authorities, citing building violations, sent in diggers to smash property belonging to suspected troublemakers .
Such “bulldozer justice” is becoming increasingly common. In recent months religious processions strikingly similar to the one in Jahangirpuri have sparked mini-riots in towns and villages across eight north Indian states. All too often, instant punishment has fallen in the form of property demolitions. In numerous instances owners say they had no time to gather possessions, or to present perfectly valid legal documents, or to explain that their house stood miles from where the riot happened.
There is a subtext to this legal impatience. The governments of Gujarat and Assam, as well as local authorities opting for summary demolitions, are all controlled by the ruling Bharatiya Janata party . Its hard-core fans, many of whom belong to Hindu-supremacist groups, chorus outrage against critics of Mr Modi. They loudly decry any infringement of what they see as the right of majority Hindus to practise their faith.
The intent behind the sudden acceleration of justice for some cases is exposed by the plodding slowness of others. Hindu agitators, including one who recently called over a loudspeaker for the rape of Muslim women, are getting soft treatment. But numerous Muslims remain in jail, often charged under anti-terror statutes, for far milder statements. Indian justice is not always so partial.
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