Karnataka’s Bulldozer Raj and Muslim League’s Soft Stand

Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has adopted a notably soft stance toward what is increasingly being described as a 'North Indian–style bulldozer raj' implemented by the Congress government in Karnataka. Even as more than 300 families, including Muslims and Dalits, were evicted and their homes razed using bulldozers, League leaders took days to respond. When they finally did, their reaction was couched in mild language.

This muted response comes at a time when a form of minority persecution, strikingly similar to the bulldozer politics practiced by BJP governments in North India, is unfolding in Karnataka. Yet, the League appears reluctant to confront the Congress government with the same intensity it reserves for BJP -led administrations.

IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty has gone so far as to argue that what is happening in Karnataka is not comparable to the bulldozer raj of Uttar Pradesh. Speaking to reporters in Kasaragod, he justified the Karnataka government’s actions by pointing out that people from all communities had lost their homes in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, and that the state government had assured rehabilitation for those displaced. His remarks were widely seen as an attempt to legitimize the demolitions.

IUML state president Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, while admitting that the incident was something that should never have happened, stopped short of directly blaming the Karnataka government. Instead, he argued that eviction drives should have been carried out while taking into account the extreme poverty of the affected residents, effectively shifting the focus from state accountability to procedural considerations.

The evictions took place in the early hours of the morning on the 22nd, around 4 a m, in Fakir Colony and Wasim Layout of Kogilu village in Bengaluru. Homes were flattened using bulldozers, leaving families homeless overnight. Despite the scale of the incident and the public outrage it generated, the Muslim League remained silent for days.

In contrast, the CPI M came out strongly against the bulldozer raj. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the demolitions in uncompromising terms. He described the destruction of Fakir Colony and Wasim Layout, where Muslim families had lived for years, as deeply shocking and painful. According to him, what Karnataka witnessed was another version of the aggressive, minority-targeting politics practiced by the Sangh Parivar in North India.

He pointed out that an entire community had been forced onto the streets in severe cold, compelled to flee their homes. The fact that the North Indian model of bulldozer "justice' was now marching into South India, and that its execution in Karnataka was under the stewardship of the Congress, was particularly astonishing, he said. CPI M Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim visited the site and met with the victims to offer solidarity.

It was only after these developments that League leaders, who politically reside within the Congress camp in Kerala, began to speak up. Notably, Kunhalikutty avoided even mentioning the name of the Karnataka Chief Minister. Instead, he found time to criticise Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, suggesting that Vijayan should speak to the Karnataka Chief Minister and attempt to resolve the issue, an advice seen by many as deflecting responsibility away from the Congress leadership in Karnataka. The episode has once again exposed the Muslim League’s political dilemma: vocal opposition when bulldozers are driven by the BJP, and conspicuous restraint when the same machinery is operated under a Congress government.