A bulldozer present during the celebration of India's Independence Day in New Jersey's Edison in the United States was discussed during a "tense" council meeting earlier this week, with some members of the community calling it a "serious incident of hate," while others claimed it was a "symbol of law and order".
The event called India Day parade was celebrated by Indian-Americans in the community in New Jersey.
Edison mayor Samip Joshi criticised the presence of the bulldozer during the rally saying, "Although the India Day parade is independently run and not a Township sponsored event, my office was made aware that a bulldozer was used as a symbol of division and discrimination. I want to be clear that any symbol or action that represents discrimination is unwelcome in Edison Township as we are committed to celebrating and working in harmony with people from all cultures."
The statement from Joshi was tweeted out by the Indian American Muslim Council which claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party's US arm had used it during the rally.
The bulldozer controversy comes at a time when it has been used to raze alleged illegal structures in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Earlier this year, bulldozers were used to demolish structures in New Delhi's Jahangirpuri even after the Supreme Court had stayed the action. Bulldozers have also been used by the UP govt, with the police even adding them to its flag march in Aligarh in June.
But what caused the controversy in New Jersey? Let's take a look:
'Baba Bulldozer' at I-Day Rally
Several human and civil rights organisations in the United States condemned the presence of a bulldozer during the India Day celebrations in New Jersey on August 15. The New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement saying, "The bulldozer, which has become a symbol of Muslim home demolitions in India, was decorated with the images of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Provincial Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, both of whom espouse Islamophobic Hindu nationalist ideologies and serve as active leaders of India's ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)."
The organisation took to Twitter and said, "We condemn this glorification of ethnic cleansing and anti-Muslim violence and urge the mayors of Edison & Woodbridge Sami Joshi & John McCormac as well as @SpeakerCoughlin, who attended the parade, to do the same."
Hindus for Human Rights had also wrote to the Edison Mayor asking him to condemn the event. "We just contacted @EdisonNJ Mayor @SamipJoshi and the Edison Township Council to express our disgust at the recent parade by Hindu nationalists in Edison, and urging them to publicly condemn this brazen display of hate."
The bulldozer in question bore posters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on it. The words 'Baba Buldozer' accompanied the photo of Adtiyanath. Several Indian news outlets had also reported on it during the celebrations.
Sambit Patra, the national BJP spokesperson, was also part of the parade. Patra tweeted a video from the event on August 15.
What happened in the council meeting?
The meetings held in Edison earlier this week saw multiple members of the community condemning the incident. The Middle East Eye, which describes itself as an independently funded digital news organisation, tweeted a video from the meet on August 24 where people are heard calling the bulldozer incident an "evil display of bigotry, racism, injustice and prejudice." One of the people condemning it on camera was council member Joseph A. Coyle.
A reporter from this news organisation who was present at the event also tweeted a thread about it saying it was a tense meeting with people supporting the presence of the bulldozer and some opposing it.
The issue seems to have come up in multiple meetings during the week. While Essa's tweets covered what happened on August 24, Hindus of Human rights shared a video of its cofounder Deepak Gupta attending one of the meetings and said it was held over the weekend.
In a YouTube video published by Hindus for Human Rights, Gupta is heard saying that it was local politics in India that was brought to the streets of New Jersey. Gupta calls the bulldozer "anti-democracy". "There is another thing that I want to bring to your notice. The chief guest of the parade was the spokesperson of a political party... I have never seen anywhere in America where a sitting spokesperson of a political party which is ruling the country chief guest of the parade."
Patra it seems was the grand marshal of the parade, as another member points out in the video. Gupta said that the bulldozer was "anti-minority" and "we're totally against it as Hindus."