Yogendra Yadav Writes: Demolition of CSDS Has Begun, Due Process Can Wait
Yogendra Yadav | 14 July 2026 | The Indian Express
Bulldozer justice reaches academia. That could be the headline for an Indian Express report last week (‘Think tank CSDS likely to face funding cuts from Centre’, IE, July 10) on the government’s move to cut its grant to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), which amounts to 90 per cent of the institution’s salary bill. No doubt, this is a demolition exercise.
As in bulldozer justice, the modus operandi involves turning the rule of law upside down. Criminal justice follows a prescribed sequence: An incident leads to evidence, evidence to suspicion, suspicion to trial and the trial leads to indictment and punishment. Here the process begins with public indictment of a culprit identified in advance. Pretext and paperwork follow to manufacture justification for the punishment pre-decided, if not already delivered. An exemplary punishment that echoes deep and wide…