By TCN Staff Reporter,
Patna: Bihar Opposition leaders have strongly condemned the brutal police firing of the state police against Muslim villagers in Araria district who were protesting on Friday against the acquisition of the village road for a factory. They have demanded action against the guilty police and proper compensation to the victims. Six Muslims were killed in the police firing.
Former Union Minister and senior JD-U leader Mohammad Taslimuddin termed it a conspiracy hatched by communal-minded police officers and politicians against Muslims.
“Nitish Kumar is a good man and committed to justice for all but communal-minded officers must be punished who always target Muslims. Forbesganj firing which took six lives and injured many is an example of Police barbarism upon Muslim community,” he said.
Taslimuddin blamed Araria DM and BJP MLC Ashok Kumar Agarwal, whose son Saurabh Agrawal is partner in the factory, for the incident. “DM and MLC Ashok Kumar Agarwal, whose son is partner in the factory, carried out the bloody game to mute the voice of poor people. Therefore, case of murder should be lodged against both of them” he demanded.
Taslimuddin who visited the affected villages of Rampur and Bhajanpur also said that he would soon meet Chief Minister and demand adequate compensation to the victims’ families and action against guilty.
Araria MLA Zakir Anwer while condemning the incident said: “It should be found out that why villagers needed to protest, why their matter was not solved before and why police opened firing directly. Police did not even show mercy towards women and children and most shamefully it beat up mercilessly to death an injured lying on the ground.”
He said that the incident proved that people especially Muslims are deprived of their rights in the state and when they protest demanding their rights they face police atrocities. “We demand from state government not to play with the lives and properties of Muslims and stop horrifying the Muslim community. The compensation to the victims should be announced,” he said.
A delegation led by state president of Youth Congress Lalan Kumar submitted a memorandum to the Governor on Sunday and demanded justice to the victims of Forbesganj police firing. After the meeting with Governor Mr. Kumar said that firing on protesting people is highly condemnable and if the justice is not delivered to the victims the party will launch movement.
Congress state president Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Kaiser also condemned the incident and warned that his party will not tolerate the forcible acquisition of land and atrocities on innocent people.
Attacking on the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday said that Chief Minister should resign owning moral responsibility for police firing in Forbesganj in Araria district which claimed lives and injured many people and for the Gopalganj incident in which a doctor was beaten to death in jail by inmates.
He demanded that the state government order a judicial inquiry into the Forbesganj firing and provide compensation of Rs 20 lakh to the bereaved families of each of the dead.
Criticizing the state government for barbaric police firing upon people, RJD state president Ram Chandra Purve and Secretary General Ram Kirpal Yadav said that the incident showed that state government has lost its control on police force.
They demanded judicial inquiry into the incident and compensation package to the next of victims.
The Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary Tariq Anwer, and CPI, Secretary Badri Narain also echoed the demand of inquiry into the incident and compensation for the families of victims.
It should be noted here that six Muslims were killed in police firing on Friday evening in Rampur and Bhajanpur villages under Forbesaganj assembly constituency in Araria district while they were protesting against the blockage of their road by a company which is putting a factory for maize starch and liquid glucose. Though the land belongs to Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA), the road of villages leading to block headquarters was passing through the same land. When company blocked the road, villagers protested and demanded their road opened or any alternate but their demand was not fulfilled. On Friday evening, they staged protest and instead of finding solution, Police allegedly opened firing on protestors in which six people died on the spot while two other succumbed to injuries at the hospital. Besides, many others got injuries and being treated in hospital.
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