Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is participating in a roadshow aboard a bulldozer in support of BJP candidate Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from the Jhotwara constituency ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly elections in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, on November 23, 2023. Photo by Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

JCB Must Say No To Bulldozer Injustice in India

Say No to Hate

JCB cannot evade responsibility while its machines are repeatedly used to inflict human rights abuses by Indian authorities.

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. 

What survivors told Amnesty International

“It was around afternoon. Everyone was sleeping in my house. We were fatigued after 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 were not given any notice, nothing.”
Hasina Bi, in Khargone town of Madhya Pradesh

“[The authorities] used the JCB machines to compel me to surrender. They have wrongfully accused me of orchestrating the Ram Navami violence in Sendhwa. On the day of the demolition, the JCB machines were lined up outside my father’s house. They forced everyone out and started demolishing everything without any notice. When my father asked them to stop, the authorities said they would only stop the JCB machines when I surrender.”
Samer Khan, in Sendhwa town of Madhya Pradesh

“The state authorities demolished the house of Javed Mohammed in front of hundreds of cameramen. They used the JCB bulldozers to create an atmosphere of fear and terror.”
KK Roy, lawyer representing Javed Mohammed

Learn More

India: Authorities must immediately stop unjust targeted demolition of Muslim properties (7 Feb 2024)

Top image: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is participating in a roadshow aboard a bulldozer in support of BJP candidate Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from the Jhotwara constituency ahead of the Rajasthan Assembly elections in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, on November 23, 2023. Photo by Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images.