STATES ROUND-UP

The Real Face of Nitish Kumar's ‘Good Governance' Stands Exposed

Home District of Chief Minister Turns into A Killing Field and A Haven for Criminals

No Work in the Legislature till Restoration of Amir Das Commission and Arrest of Nalanda Criminals: CPI(ML) Legislators in Bihar Assembly

On August 8, a massive ‘March to Vidhan Sabha' culminated in an angry dharna at the gates of the Assembly, and at the same time, CPI(ML) MLAs within the Assembly were determined to make Nitish get a taste of the protest outside the House. All our MLAs, led by Comrade Ram Naresh Ram, demonstrated at the Vidhan Sabha gate with placards and posters on the twin issues of Nalanda killings and disbanding of Amir Das Commission.

On the very first day, when condolences were to be paid, our MLAs proposed to include the names of people's representatives and social-political activists killed during the interim period. The Speaker turned down the proposal saying that they were outsiders for the Assembly. This rejection was intensely criticized, because the Legislative Assembly had paid official tribute to Mumbai bomb blast victims.

Our MLAs then put up an Adjournment Motion on the question of Nalanda killings. As the Speaker rejected it, all our MLAs reached the well of the house and continuously raised slogans for 35 minutes. The government had to beat a retreat, and ultimately, the Speaker had to extend the session by one day to have a special discussion on the law and order situation. For the next three days, the Assembly continued to resound with the slogans of the protesting CPI(ML) MLAs demanding seeking to move an amendment resolution restoring the Amir Das Commission.

Nalanda is the home district of the chief minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, and is gearing up for a forthcoming by-election. In the past 8 months since Nitish came to power, as many as 30 people – mostly rural poor and labourers from the very section which Nitish claims to champion – most backward and dalit poor, as well as Muslims – have been killed by emerging criminal gangs which are obviously emboldened by having Nitish as CM. The latest spate of killings have taken place in the wake of the recently concluded panchayat polls. Following the recent killings of panchayat candidates and activists from CPI(ML) and other Left formations, CPI(ML) General Secretary visited Nalanda. The CPI(ML) also made the killings in Nalanda and the issue of patronage of criminal and feudal forces by the Nitish Government, a major issue within the Bihar Assembly. Feeling the heat, and with an eye on the by-elections, Nitish recently made a visit to Nalanda and announced a substantial package for local development – but failed to mention the killings. A report follows.

On July 25 this year, three villagers (Sunil Kumar and Krishna Prasad) from Koiribigha, all small sharecroppers, were killed by members of the Mantu Singh gang, while a third, Vikas Kumar, was injured. Earlier in the same month, on July 3, a long-time Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha leader Ashok Patel, along with Ajit Patel, a bright and emerging young BPKS activist and incharge of the Noorsarai block, were killed a gang led by Vijay Yadav, Hakku Paswan, and Shera Singh. On July 12, Dashrath Kumar, the CPI Block Secretary of Chandi, and also the mukhiya of Chandi Panchayat, was killed by criminals backed by the JD(U); while on May 3, Rakesh Kumar, the sarpanch candidate from the CPI and the son of the CPI Block Secretary Rambachan Yadav, was killed by a JD(U) leader and local strongman Srinivas Sharma.

The above were just some of the killings that have haunted Nalanda. CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya visited this district in early August, and met the relatives of comrades and other villagers killed by criminal gangs. He was accompanied by CC Member Com. KD Yadav, president of Bihar unit of AIALA Com. Pawan Sharma and Nalanda District Secretary Com. Arvind.

Main Incidents of Killing in Nalanda District During Nitish Rule

Date Village/Block Name of the Victim Killers
27-11-05 Navidha, Hilsa Com. Parmanand Ram Abducted and killed by criminals
belonging to Navdiha Mutt
29-1-06 Seradih, Harnaut Ramchandra Bind, Anandi Bind Genocide by Paras Paswan gang
Gita Devi and Rambha Devi
16-3-06 Biharsharief Cloth merchant Ghulam Sarwar A criminal gang
alias Munna Khan
3/5/2006 Islampur Rakesh Kumar, s/o Rambachan Srinivas Sharma, a JD(U) leader
Yadav, CPI Block Secretary
… … Pura, Ekangarsarai Baso Majhi, CPI(ML) supporter Criminals
19-5-06 Goachak, Sarmera Baunu Ram, Guddu Ram, Akhilesh Singh gang, victims had
Bhola Ram, Banaras Ram, participated in election propaganda
Shankar Ram, Umesh Ram, in favour of Yogendra Ram, who
Shyam Ram, Nashi Thakur contested against a relative of
And Shivbalak Yadav Akhilesh gang member
26-6-06 Srinagar, Rajgir Rajmani Devi, Rajan Majhi Massacre by Yugal Bind gang,
Lachminia Devi and Satya during which Premal Bind was
Kumari, members of the same nabbed by people, but released by
Family. the PS after 3 days.
3-7-06                  Deodha Bihar Com. Ashok Patel and Ajit Patel Vijay Yadav-Hakku Paswan-Shera Singh gang
12/7/2006 Chandi Dashrath Thakur, mukhiya of Criminals backed by JD(U)
Chandi Panchayat
25-7-06 Koiribigha Marginal sharecroppers Sunil Mantu Singh gang. The same gang
Kumar and Krishna Prasad, killed three villagers branding them
Vikas Kumar injured as witches

On August 1, they visited Koiri Bigha village of Giriyak block in Biharsharief, the home of Sunil Kumar, Krishna Prasad and Vikas Kumar. They learnt that Krishna Prasad merely had 6 katthas of land, divided among 6 brothers, and Sunil Kumar too possessed only a few katthas of land. Both were sharecroppers. Hundreds of villagers assembled there to meet the CPI(ML) team. When Party leaders met the family members of Krishna Singh, his mother said that her son had worked day and night for Nitish Kumar during the last assembly elections, yet none of the NDA leaders including the local MLA had visited the village since the killing.

Next, the Party team reached Deodha village, where Comrades Ashok Patel and Ajit Patel were killed by the criminals on 3 July. In this village, inhabited mostly by Mushahar and Ravidas families, a police camp has been posted after the incident. Villagers informed that the comrades were abducted around 6 pm, and were brutally murdered; their eyes were gouged out and heads battered badly. Their bodies were buried in the sand 6 kms away on the bank of Paimar River . The Hakku Paswan gang, the perpetrator of this heinous crime, enjoys the patronage of ex-mukhiya Vijay Yadav and OC of Dipnagar PS.

On 3 August, the team visited Bhagwatpur, where Rakesh Kumar, son of Islampur Block Secretary of the CPI, was killed on 3 May night by a criminal-turned-politician Srinivas Sharma. Srinivas Sharma, a JD(U) leader who has recently won as a member of district council, killed Rakesh Kumar in order to secure victory for his supporter to the post of sarpanch.

Party leaders met Rakesh Kumar's family and paid tributes at his memorial. Later, Comrade Dipankar and others went to meet the family members of Comrade Dashrath Thakur, who had been elected as mukhiya from Chandi panchayat in the recently held panchayat elections. A few days after his victory, while returning from a haircutting saloon at Chandi Bazaar, he was killed on 12 July by the JD(U)-supported ex-mukhiya. People said the ex-mukhiya had openly expressed outrage that ‘being a barber, he had become a mukhiya'.

Addressing a press conference held at Patna , Comrade Dipankar said that right after Nitish Kumar taking oath as chief minister, on 24 November 2005, three members of a family were accused of witchcraft and killed by Mantu gang. Comrade Dipankar released a list of people killed in Nalanda by the criminal gangs during the past 8 months and announced a massive demonstration in Patna on 8 August against crime. He also announced that Party MLAs would raise their voice in the Vidhan Sabha against unbridled crime in Chief Minister's own home district and try and forge unity among left legislators on this question.