Monday Musings: A Dreamer Catches Supreme Court Attention

A bulldozer barrels through the crumbling lanes of a decrepit colony—Ambedkarnagar, in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), Uttar Pradesh. One of the shanties is on fire. Amidst the chaos, an 8-year-old girl, Ananya Yadav, clutches her school bag and runs. A photographer’s camera captures the moment in haunting detail.

Though the demolitions occurred in 2021, the video only recently went viral when the case reached the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan took note of the footage, terming the demolition drive “illegal and inhuman.”

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Suddenly, journalists swarmed the village to meet the girl who had caught the nation’s attention—Ananya Yadav, now the face of resistance, innocence, and undeterred hope.

Facing cameras for the first time, little Ananya said she had run back to save her school bag from the flames.

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And what did the bag contain?

“A book of English, Hindi, and Ginti (Math),” she said, calmly, speaking into dozens of cameras aimed at her small frame.

But why take such a risk, especially when her mother had warned her not to go near their burning home?

“I want to study and become an IAS officer,” came her instant reply. “I had seen one of them visit my school. I was told they are very nice people. I want to serve my country like them.”

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Her simple words cut through the political noise.

Meanwhile, a petition challenging the demolition was already pending before the Supreme Court. The shanties—allegedly owned by gangster Atiq Ahmed—were razed under the orders of the Uttar Pradesh government, which had directed the bulldozing of all properties linked to the Mafia don, a man said to have ties to the Opposition Samajwadi Party.

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Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has become a symbol of aggressive governance—embodied in the now-iconic image of a bulldozer—flattening properties of alleged criminals without trial. Other BJP-ruled states, and some non-BJP ones too, have followed suit.

But can the Supreme Court save Ananya’s dream?

Unlikely. The local authorities have decided to file an FIR not just against her father, Abhishek Yadav, but also against her grandfather, Ram Milan Yadav.

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According to Lekhpal Jalalpur Ghanshyam Verma, proper notice had been served prior to demolition. He alleged that Abhishek, intoxicated at the time, refused to vacate the premises and even set fire to the adjoining hut himself.

Politics, of course, has stepped in. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has visited the family, promising support. Congress leaders have done the same.

But people are not fooled. They know this isn’t about Ananya’s dreams—it’s about votes. The Uttar Pradesh elections are due next year.

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And even if, against all odds, little Ananya becomes an IAS officer—making it through one of the toughest exams in the country with fewer than a thousand seats—it will still be the politicians pulling the strings, not the officers themselves.

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