Agnipath protests: How many protesters' homes will be razed by bulldozers now?

[MenInG]

Fair question.

==

Taking a swipe at the centre amid violent protests against the new military recruitment plan 'Agnipath', Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked how many protesters' homes will be razed by bulldozers now.
Mr Owaisi, who leads the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), made the remark against the backdrop of the action against those accused of engineering protests over suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma's remarks on Prophet Muhammad last month.

"They (youngsters) are on the streets due to (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi's wrong decision. How many (protesters') homes will be razed by bulldozers? We don't want you to demolish anyone's home," he said.

Mr Owaisi quoted a senior police officer of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, saying that the protesters are like children and need to be counselled.

"I want to ask him, aren't Muslims your children? We are also this country's children. You talk to us, you should have spoken to us last Friday," the Hyderabad MP said.

Protests against the remarks on the Prophet had broken out in several parts of the country after Friday prayers.

Mr Owaisi went on to refer to the demolition of the home of Javed Mohammed -- the main accused in the violence in Prayagraj during the protests. Javed Mohammed is the father of JNU student leader Afrin Fatima.

"Afrin Fatima's home was demolished. Why? Because his father took part in a demonstration. Principle of natural justice is the part of the Constitution's basic framework. The court can punish him, not his wife and daughter. Is this your justice," he asked.

Taking a swipe at the BJP, Mr Owaisi said Nupur Sharma, who was suspended by the party over her remarks on the Prophet, will soon be made a "big leader" and may even be nominated as the party's Delhi Chief Minister candidate.

"Nupur Sharma should be arrested and action should be taken against her according to the law of India. We wanted action as per the Constitution. I know that Nupur Sharma will be made big leader in the coming six-seven months. It is also possible that Nupur Sharma will be made the Delhi CM candidate," he said.

"This is the reality of our nation. The more you abuse Muslims, the higher post you will find," he said.

NDTV

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

When farmers protested peacefully for more than a year they were called traitors, khalistanis and terrorists by Godi media but look at their hypocrisy now.

 

[Rajdeep]

Always victim...playing victim card 24/7.

Any issue, any incident...this Owaisi guy would somehow drag muslim rights into it.

This is so nauseating. I have not seen any other community doing it or constantly moaning 365 days.

Bulldozer policy is in UP...these Agnipath protests are going on in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Each state in India has seperate way of functioning but looks like Owaisi is deliberately acting ignorant.

Also, the houses that were demolished in UP were illegal. If Owaisi thinks that is not the case and they were demolished bcoz of their faith, he can go to court of law since he himself is a lawyer and talks about Constitution/law always.

Indians in 2022 don't fall these melodrama unfortunately. Its all about post truth now.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Always victim...playing victim card 24/7.

Any issue, any incident...this Owaisi guy would somehow drag muslim rights into it.

This is so nauseating. I have not seen any other community doing it or constantly moaning 365 days.

Bulldozer policy is in UP...these Agnipath protests are going on in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Each state in India has seperate way of functioning but looks like Owaisi is deliberately acting ignorant.

Also, the houses that were demolished in UP were illegal. If Owaisi thinks that is not the case and they were demolished bcoz of their faith, he can go to court of law since he himself is a lawyer and talks about Constitution/law always.

Indians in 2022 don't fall these melodrama unfortunately. Its all about post truth now.

Buldozer policy is in UP. Ok. Following videos are from UP

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>| <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Agnipath?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Agnipath</aAfter gatherings at Ballia RS& stadium, sr police officers&DM talked to &dispersed students.After which,some students attempted to break window pane&set fire to an empty isolated train.Attempts of dousing underway;patrolling at diff areas underway:SP Nayyar(ANI) <a href="https://t.co/JHwGMCe2KB">pic.twitter.com/JHwGMCe2KB</a></p>— TOI Lucknow News (@TOILucknow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TOILucknow/status/1537654437459570688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/luc...over-agnipath-scheme/articleshow/92271377.cms

Protests erupt in U.P. against ‘Agnipath’ scheme, stones pelted at govt. bus in Agra

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...elted-at-govt-bus-in-agra/article65533238.ece

Don't shoot the messenger here. Owaisi raised a fair point. How about you counter that. I have also posted proofs of protests going on in UP. So my question is have they run their buldozers over these terrorists houses or not?

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Why Modi, Yogi govts are treating Agnipath protesters as ‘their people’

BJP knows better than to concede the goodwill of the social group it has worked hard to capture. Muslims would never get this treatment.

The Narendra Modi government, otherwise known for its firm and brutal crackdown on violent protests, is seemingly acting coy in dealing with those protesting against Agnipath, the newly announced recruitment scheme of the Indian Armed Forces. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is no exception. Varanasi Commissioner Satish Bharadwaj said on record that these are ‘our own boys’. Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said that senior officials are “trying to pacify all students and aspirants.”

The protests, which have become a pain in the neck for the Union government, have erupted and turned quite violent in at least 11 states. Though it was concentrated in the north, for the most part, it has now spilled over to the southern states too.

To get into the merits and demerits of the scheme is beyond the scope of this article. I am not passing any value judgment on the scheme. I would rather try to answer only two questions here. One, who are these protesters who want this scheme to go and two, why are the government and local administrations handling these protesters with so much care and compassion?

Not too different from 1990 Delhi

I have memories of 1990 when Delhi and large parts of north India went literally up in flames after the announcement of the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report. Then-Prime Minister V.P. Singh had announced on 7 August 1990 that there would be a reservation of 27 per cent of Union government jobs for Other Backward Classes. This led to protests and the burning of public property. Some even tried to burn themselves and died. At that time, too, the administration (and almost all media platforms) remained supportive of the agitators; the idea that “our boys” were protesting was clear.

In the present case, the administrations in different states, especially in UP, have sensed that those protesting are “their people.” This is unlike the case of the Muslims, who protested against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens and also against the utterances of former Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Nupur Sharma. When the Muslims protested, the UP administration acted harshly and brought out the bulldozers. Buildings and business establishments of many who took part in the protests were demolished. They said the structures were ‘illegally built’. The idea of razing buildings caught on, so much so that the ‘bulldozer’ suddenly became the symbol of the toughness of the government.


The difference in Agnipath protests

The difference in the treatment of the Agnipath protests may have something to do with the recruitment processes and social-religious structures of the armed forces. We don’t know the religious or caste composition of the enlisted officers and non-officers. This is unlike the United States, where the Department of Defence publishes racial diversity data. It told us that in 2020, there were 59 per cent whites and 13 per cent blacks in the US army. The department also released comprehensive data for Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans and so on.

The Sachar Committee tried to collect data on minority representation in the armed forces, but due to strong resistance mainly from the establishment, the idea was dropped. Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony at the time categorically said that religious headcount would not be allowed in the armed forces. The resistance to collecting such data was such that we may deduce that Muslims are probably not adequately represented in the forces.

Based on the televised and otherwise circulated statements of the protestors, I inferred that most of the protesters, in this case, are Hindus. This is not a group that the BJP would like to antagonise or hit hard. Despite all the talk of transformation, BJP remains a party of the Hindus. It’s also a party that takes its strength from the Hindu-Muslim binary. After the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP does not have a single Muslim MP. With this standpoint, BJP governments behaving differently in the case of Hindu and Muslim protestors is not a matter of surprise.

Caste politics

Another reason for the BJP going soft on the agitators has to do with the transformation of the party over the years. It has long been branded as a party of the dominant caste Hindu people, mostly Brahmin-Baniya. Over the years, it has expanded its base by including new social groups. In all probability, it does not want to lose all the goodwill of this social group by going for a crackdown on the agitators because it catapulted the BJP to power in almost the entire north India.

Though caste, community and geography-based army units, a legacy and continuum of the British Indian Army, are only a small part of the entire strength of the armed forces, some geographies and social groups are still more associated with the army. Are these social groups sending proportionately more youths to the armed forces?

Without data, we can only have postulations and inferences. The way the BJP is tackling the present agitation and the way it amended the scheme just one day after announcing it and increased the maximum age from 21 to 23 as a one-time exception, is hinting that this is not the social group that the BJP would like to treat as it treats Muslims.

https://theprint.in/opinion/why-mod...-agnipath-protesters-as-their-people/1001789/

 

[Rajdeep]

Buldozer policy is in UP. Ok. Following videos are from UP

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>| <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Agnipath?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Agnipath</aAfter gatherings at Ballia RS& stadium, sr police officers&DM talked to &dispersed students.After which,some students attempted to break window pane&set fire to an empty isolated train.Attempts of dousing underway;patrolling at diff areas underway:SP Nayyar(ANI) <a href="https://t.co/JHwGMCe2KB">pic.twitter.com/JHwGMCe2KB</a></p>— TOI Lucknow News (@TOILucknow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TOILucknow/status/1537654437459570688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/luc...over-agnipath-scheme/articleshow/92271377.cms

Protests erupt in U.P. against ‘Agnipath’ scheme, stones pelted at govt. bus in Agra

https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...elted-at-govt-bus-in-agra/article65533238.ece

Don't shoot the messenger here. Owaisi raised a fair point. How about you counter that. I have also posted proofs of protests going on in UP. So my question is have they run their buldozers over these terrorists houses or not?

If those protestors are living illegally then their houses will be destroyed too. Rather than shooting anything, why don't Owaisi being a lawyer himself proves that the houses destroyed were not illegal? He won't do it bcoz he knows playing victim card will get him votes.

Now if bulldozing houses even if its illegal is a correct step or not that is a separate discussion

 

[Rajdeep]

LOL at print.com saying BJP treating protestors as their own people. What does it even mean?

They are Indian students...so of course they are our own people.

BJP has passed this law in parliament, citizens have right to protest and if anyone takes violent route...law will take its course. Several arrests are already being made.

What exactly print.com wants? They need to hide under the garb of media and being explicit and say clearly what is in their mind

 

[MenInG]

Always victim...playing victim card 24/7.

Any issue, any incident...this Owaisi guy would somehow drag muslim rights into it.

This is so nauseating. I have not seen any other community doing it or constantly moaning 365 days.

Bulldozer policy is in UP...these Agnipath protests are going on in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Each state in India has seperate way of functioning but looks like Owaisi is deliberately acting ignorant.

Also, the houses that were demolished in UP were illegal. If Owaisi thinks that is not the case and they were demolished bcoz of their faith, he can go to court of law since he himself is a lawyer and talks about Constitution/law always.

Indians in 2022 don't fall these melodrama unfortunately. Its all about post truth now.

Don't worry about who said it.

Address the issue being raised.

 

[daytrader]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Katihar | "Exactly 8.5 yrs from now, country's name will be included among 'Hijdon ki fauj.' After 8.5 yrs, current Army men will retire & training of these Agniveers won't be complete...Whoever gave this idea should be hanged," says Surendra Yadav, Bihar's Co-operative Minister. <a href="https://t.co/0vCizm0sbd">pic.twitter.com/0vCizm0sbd</a></p>— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1628733541759733762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>