Karti Chidambaram slams BJP over bulldozer actions against violence clashes amid prophet row

|HT|

With bulldozers rolling out in the streets of Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpurand Kanpur, the opposition has yet again slammed the BJP over the action as states see violence and clashes over remarks against Prophet Mohammed. "State sponsored vigilante justice is the death knell for the rule of law," Congress's Karti Chidambaram tweeted on Sunday, in an attack on the ruling party. The 53-year-old leader is under the radar of probe agencies over 'visa for Chinese' corruption case. The Congress leader had earlier alleged that he was being harassed by central probe agencies, which were aiming to "silence the voice of dissent".

On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath - at a high-level meeting - had said: "The action of 'Bulldozer' is against professional criminals and mafia. This action should be continued. No action will be taken on the house of a poor person in the state even by mistake." His remarks came as some premises linked to those accused of violence in Kanpur and Saharanpur were razed by the local administration. Kanpur saw the demolition of a multi-storey building that the police claimed belonged to a close relative of the alleged mastermind behind the June 3 violence, Zafar Hayat Hashmi. However, a family member claimed they had got no notices. Meanwhile, Saharanpur witnessed action against people who allegedly took part in Friday's protests.

Yogi Adityanath on Saturday warned of strict action against all those accused of violence. "Be it from any side making provocative statements, do not allow anyone to spoil the atmosphere. Action against professional criminals continued. The accountability of those responsible for the June 10 incident should be fixed: Such bulldozer politics has no place in our constitution and hence it is against the rule of law," he said. Reacting to the reports from the state, the Maharashtra unit of CPIM tweeted: "Such bulldozer politics has no place in our constitution and hence it is against the rule of law. (sic)"

After the BJP's win in UP, it was suggested that the bulldozers were symbolic of action against unruly elements.

Earlier, there was critcism when bulldozers rolled out on streets of Delhi - where the BJP rules the civic body - in April and May.

On Saturday, Karnataka BJP leader CT Ravi had said that the state could borrow UP's bulldozer against those who hamper peace.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)