People's Democracy

GOLU, a 4 years old child, was abducted on September 20 when he was going to school along with his sister, under Ahiyapur police station in Muzaffarpur. He was the only male child of Ratan Singh, an employee of the Punjab National Bank. Golu’s mutilated body was found on September 25, and his parents could identify him only by his clothes.

When the people came to know of the tragic story and the administration and police displayed an inhuman attitude, it led to a violent eruption of the common people’s pent-up frustration. On September 26, entire Muzaffarpur city was in flames. About a lakh of people took to the streets. Men, women and children gave vent to their anger against the local administration and police. The irate mob attacked all the 13 police stations in and around the city. The district magistrate (DM) was manhandled and forced to take shelter in Sadar police station along with the superintendent of police (SP).

The police acted ferociously and, in indiscriminate firing, killed 12 innocent people. Two persons were shot dead near Kazi Mohammadpur police station (PS), 2 near Sadar PS, 4 near Town PS and 2 more near Pankaj Market. Mantosh Kumar (10 years old son of a vegetable vendor), Chandan Kumar and Mritunjay Kumar Jha (students of LS college), Jitendra Jha (an employee in a private concern), Pankaj, Uday Thakur, Rakesh and Ramesh were shot dead. Several others like Ishwar Sah (a rickshaw-puller), Anil Singh, Anil Kumar (student), Uday Shankar Sahi (civil court employee), Dharmendra Rai (footpath tea vendor), Chandan Kumar (hotel worker) sustained bullet and lathi injuries and are undergoing treatment in the government hospital. They were brought handcuffed for treatment.

Curfew was imposed for 2 days (September 26-27), but the residents of Muzaffarpur defied it. Government vehicles, buses and railway coaches were burnt. People’s anger knew no bounds. The incident got its echo in the ongoing assembly session at Patna. The entire opposition, including the Left, disrupted the proceedings and demanded from the government a statement on the situation. The government was caught on the wrong foot. It could not satisfy the opposition as it was misled by the Muzaffarpur administration.

To understand the violent mood of the common people of Muzaffarpur against the police in particular and the district administration in general, one has to know the background that contributed to the explosive situation and rendered the entire town unmanageable for 3 consecutive days. In the last few years, Muzaffarpur has witnessed at least 30 abductions, police firing on flood affected people in Aurai block in which 8 people died, and many more police atrocities that went unreported. Doctors, bank employees and traders are the soft targets of the abductors. The politician-police-criminal nexus is in full play here. Abductors and criminals enjoy the ruling party’s protection, rendering the police into mute spectators.

In the latest case, Golu’s abduction took place in broad daylight. Though his sister resisted and raised an alarm, nobody came to his rescue. When his parents came to know about the incident, they rushed to the police station. But the police failed to respond quickly. For 3 or 4 days, the police remained inactive, smug and quite ineffective in dealing with the situation. Then, after Golu’s body was found, the police played its dirty game by spreading the news that the body was not Golu’s but of someone 13 years old. They even forced the doctor to repeat the story. The common people, who have often been subjected to such inhuman tricks by the police and administration in the past, did not buy this cock and bull story. They rose as one man against the administration that has been taken hostage by the criminals. The Muzaffarpur episode is a clear warning to the political forces that are responsible for strengthening the police-criminal-politician nexus, particularly the RJD that is ruling the state for more than a decade.

The incident gave a shot in the NDA’s arm. The NDA is always on a look-out for such situations to fish in troubled waters and further its interest. It demanded imposition of president’s rule and resignation of the Rabri Devi government, and also gave a Bihar bandh call on October 5. However, it has no moral right to play just, as it has itself been strengthening the criminal-police-politician nexus. Earlier they tried, though in vain, to usurp power in league with the mafia dons masquerading as politicians, some of them ‘honourable’ MLAs. These forces will of course go to any length to bring down the present RJD government. But will the RJD heed the warning of the common people of Muzaffarpur? With all the rhetoric of social justice and communal harmony of Laloo Prasad, the common men and women are not safe in Bihar. Abductors, criminals and rapists have the field day.

Taking the gravity of the situation into account, five Left parties --- the CPI, CPI(M), RSP, FB and SUCI --- met at Patna on September 28 and decided to mobilise the common people against the growing menace of politician-criminal-police nexus. They decided to stage a dharna on October 2, Gandhi’s birthday, throughout Bihar. On October 7, they will resort to road blocks. On October 13, a mass meeting will be organised at Muzaffarpur, to be addressed by national level leaders of these parties.

A delegation of the Left parties visited Muzaffarpur and met Golu’s family members. The team comprised Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Vijaykant Thakur and Sarangdhar Paswan (CPI-M), Suraj Prasad and P K Ganguly (CPI), Tarakant Prakash (RSP), Nripendra Krishna Mahto (FB) and Amriteshwar Charkraborty (SUCI). They also visited the government hospital where the injured were being treated. The heart-rending stories narrated by the injured, who are mostly wage earners, students etc, put the state government in dock. In a desperate move, the district administration has filed FIRs against 20,000 persons; all the injured have been arrested under article 307 CrPC.

Later on, a press conference was held in the SUCI office at Muzaffarpur. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Suraj Prasad, Tarakant Prakash, Amriteshwar Chakrabortoy and Nripendra Krishna Mahto addressed it. The Left parties demanded an immediate overhaul of the entire district and police administration, institution of a murder case against the DM and SP who are responsible for the killing of innocent persons in the firing, and withdrawal of the cases filed by the police against innocent people. They alleged that the police had filed cases against those who are weak, and charged the government with partiality in disbursing the compensation.