In India, the bulldozer has emerged as an instrument of the strong state and a symbol of sovereign retribution. Bulldozer demolitions, argues Ananya Sharma, mark a shift towards punitive populism in which majoritarian desires supplant the rule of law
In June 2024, the Uttar Pradesh government razed approximately 1,800 structures. Its campaign included the mass demolition of 1,100 homes in Lucknow’s Akbar Nagar, as part of an urban redevelopment project framed around 'eco-tourism'. Official narratives claimed these demolitions were necessary to reclaim land from ‘encroachers’ and ‘land mafias’. In reality, the government's actions masked the displacement of marginalised communities.
This is one of many actions that exemplify what is now referred to as 'bulldozer justice': the popular, state-sanctioned practice of using bulldozers punitively, to demolish homes, businesses, and places of worship. Bulldozers have become emblematic of right-wing authoritarianism in India. Demolitions unlawfully target minority communities, Muslims in particular, in a symbolic assertion of sovereign power.
Bulldozer demolitions have become emblematic of right-wing authoritarianism in India, as state leaders target minority communities
The weaponisation of bulldozers as instruments of ‘justice’ marks a lethal convergence of retributive governance. Demolitions are supported by a majority, and articulated through celebrations in popular culture. According to Amnesty International, 128 ‘targeted demolitions’ took place between April and June 2022 in the Indian states of Assam, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, making 617 people homeless.
The state defended its actions as stringent measures against illegal encroachments. Victims of the demolitions with criminal records also received harsh punishments. Yet human rights organisations and opposition leaders allege that the states' actions are the result of communal bias and legal impropriety.
Punitive populism mobilises popular support for retributive — often unlawful — action against individuals or groups, and frames it as a threat to the moral, cultural and political order. The state uses violence to assert control, discipline dissent and consolidate majoritarian sentiment.
The bulldozer — a formidable machine symbolic of planning and progress — has been commandeered by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for punitive purposes. Punitive populism thrives on appeals to majoritarian outrage, positioning marginalised communities as threats to national identity. Domicide — the intentional destruction of homes — has become the spatial expression of punitive populism. Home, a sanctuary of dignity and security, becomes a site of collective punishment.
Punitive populism thrives on affective appeals to majoritarian outrage, positioning marginalised communities as threats to national identity
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life and personal liberty. The Supreme Court interprets this to include the ‘right to shelter’. India has also signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which provides the right to adequate housing. The Covenant prohibits forced evictions unless they accord with general principles of reasonableness and proportionality. Bulldozer justice defies these constitutional and normative principles.
Bulldozers exemplify muscular nationalism, in which state leaders rule by force, domination, and control. Indeed, such displays of the state’s punitive capacity are rooted in cultural ideals of masculinity, which value strength, aggression, and authority as markers of legitimate leadership. The hyper-masculine machine flattens dissent, destroys opposition and creates space for a national order that penalises minorities and forces submission.
Many Indians celebrate their state leaders for using bulldozers, regarding them as strongmen who embody a virile, might-is-right governance. These citizens celebrate the state for its willingness to act decisively — even at the expense of constitutional norms.
Punitive populism thus substitutes procedural norms with populist legitimacy. State leaders justify their actions as a show of strength and moral vengeance. This alignment of punitive populism with populist legitimacy erodes institutional norms, normalises state violence and transforms justice into political theatre.
India's very public bulldozer demolitions exemplify the performative nature of punitive populism: state violence curated for mass consumption. The majority appears to celebrate these demolitions, reducing the relentless oppression of minority communities to a grotesque spectacle. The violence that accompanies such demolitions is often broadcast on television: the state taking action against its purported enemies.
The celebratory fervour surrounding these acts is evident in political rhetoric and media glorification. This signals a shift in India from procedural justice to affective governance. Bulldozer demolitions have become fetishised as symbols of moral rectitude and sovereign virility. They elicit public approval precisely because of their violent nature. State governments gain political capital from the ritualised spectacle of demolitions as a form of affective governance.
For many, bulldozer justice offers a form of catharsis, generating feelings of pride and vindication. For minorities, it provokes fear, humiliation, and insecurity
For many, the spectacle is cathartic, generating feelings of pride and vindication. Yet, for minorities, it provokes fear, humiliation, and insecurity. Indeed, the asymmetrical distribution of the impact — triumphalism for the majority and trauma for the minority — is central to the political work of bulldozer justice.
Bulldozers have become powerful symbols of the Indian state’s antagonism towards a section of its people. So-called bulldozer justice epitomises the BJP's partisan assertion of power. Bulldozers convey a dual message: the rejection of constitutional principles of due process, and a disavowal of secular democratic norms.
In November 2024, the Supreme Court of India delivered a significant judgement condemning bulldozer demolitions as a violation of constitutional principles. As a result, it drew up comprehensive guidelines to ensure due process in future.
We must delegitimise punitive populism, institutionally and discursively. Until then, bulldozer justice will endure not as an aberration but as a defining principle of India’s contemporary political landscape. The bulldozer will remain a symbol of a nation unmaking its democratic promises, one home at a time.
