THE PRIZED AVENGER
Like the deadly Guillotine of the French Revolution, the Bulldozer is set to become a prized symbol of “power of the people” in New India.
Thousands of people were beheaded in public by the Guillotine during the 1789 Revolution without any fair trial. Rather than fearing this death machine, the French peasants celebrated the guillotine by wearing its models as necklaces and composing boisterous songs in its praise. The public executions by the Guillotine, also known as the People’s Axe or the National Razor, offered the masses a vicarious feeling of power over their enemies. For a time, the masses loved this revolutionary chaos and felt exhilarated by the rendering of quick justice to those suspected of being enemies of the Revolution. They looked forward to the executions and thronged to see the guillotine in action.
This rough and ready “justice” dispensed through the people’s axe and kangaroo courts also increased the popularity of the leaders of the revolution. Since the public loved the spectacle, the leaders did not hesitate to provide more and more victims to be guillotined. Their greed for power and popularity made it immaterial that the persons to be beheaded may be innocent. Their only concern was the exhibition of power of the Revolution and approval of the people.
It appears that for the leaders of New India, the Bulldozer is being set up to do what the Guillotine did for the French Revolutionaries. The parking of bulldozers at the UP assembly election rallies of Yogi Adityanath amply reflects this reality. Further, the widespread support from a section of the population and media on the use of bulldozers first by the Madhya Pradesh police and now by the Delhi civic bodies to demolish the houses and shops of those alleged to have indulged in stone throwing and violence during the religious processions corroborates the growing attraction of the Bulldozer and what it represents.
Thousands, who saw on television the demolition of the houses and shops in Khargone, revelled in the spectacle of dispensation of quick justice to those who, in their view, had dared to violate the sanctity of their religious procession. They saw the bulldozer as their avenging arm, a symbol of the power of “their” government to instantaneously punish their enemies without the need to prove them guilty before a court of law. The Media belittled those who spoke of the need for a fair trial before imposition of punishment. Why follow the long process established by law when the people who matter have already identified the culprits! How does it matter if many of those living in the demolished houses or earning their livelihood through the wrecked shops were innocent! The People’s Will cannot be obstructed by the technicalities of the Rule of Law or old-fashioned rules of Natural Justice.
The Bulldozer is set to be the new popular symbol of worship by the masses and no one in New India can dare to find fault with popular symbols even if they cause misery and suffering. Perhaps that is why no top national leader has spoken on the recent pitiless bulldozer operations. Heil The Avenger!