On the occasion of the country’s 76th Independence Day, Indians living in New Jersey in the United States took to the streets to celebrate India’s liberation from British rule. It was joined by hundreds of NRIs living in the USA. Local leaders from the USA also joined the India day parade. Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, Craig J. Coughlin, joined the Indian community on this occasion. Assemblyman for New Jersey District 18, Rob Karabinchak, also joined the Indians to celebrate Edison’s 18th India Day parade.
Among various tableaus and floats in the India Day Parade, some Indians were seen leading the Independence Day parade in New Jersey with bulldozers, with the poster of the Chief Minister of one of the states of India – Yogi Adityanath, with a banner ‘Baba Ka Bulldozer’ (Baba’s Bulldozer as Yogi Adityanath is also fondly called ‘Baba’ by his supporters). But Islamist organisation Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) took this opportunity to further their usual anti-India agenda and tried to spin a narrative and tweeted, “Hindu right-wing in Edison, New Jersey marched with bulldozers, which have become a weapon in the hands of the BJP government to destroy Muslim homes and livelihoods.”
Unfortunately, two USA senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker also bought into IAMC’s biased narrative and issued statements in their support. Unaware of the truth, Edison’s Indian American Mayor Sam Joshi also started singing IAMC’s tune. As a biographer of Yogi Adityanath and someone who tracks Uttar Pradesh very closely, let me put the record straight.
Under Yogi Adityanath’s rule in Uttar Pradesh, a bulldozer has emerged as a symbol of strong action against the land mafia, which was rampant before he took over as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Before Yogi Adityanath land mafia was hand in glove with the political leaders and enjoyed the economic benefits of the illegal lands. Yogi’s government did not discriminate before taking action against any land mafia by his or her caste, creed, religion or colour.
If dreaded criminals Mukhtar Ansari and Ateeq Ahmed’s properties were bulldozed then the properties of Vikas Dubey and Vijay Mishra were also bulldozed and confiscated. In the last 5.5 years under Yogi Adityanath’s government illegally encroached land worth Rs 3,954 Crore is being recovered by the government. Out of the top 62 noted land mafias, from which a large chunk of the illegal properties was confiscated by the government, only 12, that is 19.3% are from the Muslim community.
In fact by supporting IAMC’s stand USA senators Bob Menendez, Cory Booker, Mayor Sam Joshi and others are standing with the vicious land mafia, who have illegally grabbed government land and land of the poor farmers over years in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Finally, action is being taken against the land mafia and I am sure after knowing the truth, USA lawmakers will stand with the government and not with the land mafia.
In my book tour across the United State of America for my book ‘The Monk Who transformed Uttar Pradesh’, I presented to thousands of NRIs, how Yogi Adityanath drastically improved the law and order situation in the state of Uttar Pradesh and bulldozed the illegal structures on illegal lands has become the symbol of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. My previous book on Yogi Adityanath, ‘The Monk Who Became Chief Minister’, is available in the libraries of the USA Congress, in Harvard’s library, in Stanford’s library, in New York’s Public library and I highly recommend members of IAMC to get a copy and read the truth.
In July of 2021, one of the most decorated ex-Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttar Pradesh tweeted and compared Yogi Adityanath’s governance with Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore
“In UP, Mafia property worth Rs 1,574 crore has been confiscated. Yogi is emerging as UP’s Lee Kuan Yew.”
Let’s know more about Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), which is peddling this anti-India narrative. As per many media reports, The Indian American Muslim Council is a radical Islamist group that has alleged links with banned terror organizations such as the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and has a long history of lobbying against India. IAMC claims to be the “largest advocacy organization of Indian Muslims in the US” and often advocates for Sharia courts and peddles misinformation against India. This allegedly Jamat-e-Islami linked Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) in the past have given cash prizes to ‘journalists’ from Wire, Newslaundry, Scroll Caravan etc for peddling IAMC’s anti-India narrative. In the past, India’s then foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi commented on IAMC that the track record of IAMC is biased and politically motivated.
