India, May 12 -- It was most inspiring to learn of the Supreme Court's description of the use of a bulldozer to destroy the houses of six families at Allahabad as "inhuman" and "illegal." It shocks our conscience, said the judges, and it stands for the "high-handedness" of authorities. The court allotted Rs 10 lakhs to each family. But an affected party, Prof Ali Ahmed Fatmi says, no compensation can heal the pain of destroying one's beloved home: a carefully built-up library destroyed, affectionately collected books ruined, painstakingly produced manuscripts lost!

Adityanath Yogi, however, has defended his use of the bulldozer. Let people suffer the consequences of their wrongdoing, he says. He has earned names like 'bulldozer baba' and...