Now Reading: Hindutva and bulldozer are fashioning each other in New India
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Hindutva and bulldozer are fashioning each other in New India
In a long-form opinion piece, ThePrint explores the metaphorical link between Hindutva and the bulldozer, arguing that the machine has become a figurative image for the ideology. The author suggests the bulldozer…
In a long-form opinion piece, ThePrint explores the metaphorical link between Hindutva and the bulldozer, arguing that the machine has become a figurative image for the ideology. The author suggests the bulldozer captures Hindutva's masculine, destructive energy and its role in displacing communities under the guise of development.
The piece traces how the bulldozer, once a construction tool, has entered popular culture in India, citing examples like a groom in Uttar Pradesh riding a bulldozer to his wedding. It draws comparisons to the bulldozer's symbolic use in Israel and the United States, claiming it takes on a distinct 'Hindutva baba' character in India.
The article concludes that Hindutva rejects complexity and aims to flatten history and opposition, aligning with neoliberal politics. It frames the bulldozer as both an artefact and a symbol of majoritarian power that crushes dialogue and dispossesses the original inhabitants.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This essay typifies a genre of academic critique that treats a material object as a cipher for ideology. The bulldozer-as-symbol has real-world resonance: since 2017, at least 10 state governments have used bulldozer-driven demolitions against properties of accused persons, often without judicial orders. The Supreme Court in November 2022 stayed such demolitions pending a national guideline, but compliance remains patchy. The next legal milestone is the Court's final hearing on the matter, which will test whether the metaphor becomes a liability for the state.
Source: theprint.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
