By Aslam Khan
A CPI(ML) fact finding team comprising of Central Committee members and Bihar State Committee Members, Comrades KD Yadav and Rajaram Singh (the two are also national vice president and general secretary respectively of All India Kisan Mahasabha), along with Araria District Party incharge, Naval Kishore and block secretary of Forbesganj, Genalal Mahato visited Bhajanpur village in Forbesganj and met with the villagers and family members of the deceased Mustafa Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari, Shazmin Khatoon and 8-month old child Naushad.
The team learned from the villagers that the road from Bhajanpur to Raniganj is 60 years old and at various points in time the zilla parishad, gram panchayat, mukhiya and others have conducted the repairing work. Keeping the path till here in mind NH 57 has constructed a subway also. But in course of BIADA acquiring land and construction of private factory by BJP legislative councillor, Ashok Aggarwal, on 28 acres of land, a conspiracy was hatched by them to block and close this road. This road connecting Bhajanpur to Raniganj, connects Bhajanpur village mainly inhabited by minority community (1000 families), to Karbala, Idgah, hospital and local bazaar. So the demand of the villagers to maintain this road is fully justified.
On 2nd June a wall was constructed on one end of the road, on the directions of BJP MLC Ashok Agarwal and on other end a deep digging was done for laying foundation. On 3 June the villagers held a strong protest against this and demolished the boundary wall. The police from 6 stations was already present there and perpetrated most heinous firing, firing hundreds of rounds of bullets and even after Mustafa and Shazmeen were shot above their waist the police flung on to them and trampled their felled but still alive bodies with their boots.
This incident exposes the true face of anti-rural, anti-minority character and barbaric face of Nitish Kumar’s Govt. Pregnant Shazmeen Khatoon was returning after feeding her husband Farooq Ansari who is a construction worker at this factory. Mustafa was returning from his shop with 8000 rupees and mobile and he was still alive after being shot but police trampled his chest and bled him to death. 8-month old Naushad was killed on the NH in police firing and his mother is injured and admitted at PMCH. 18 year old Mukhtar used to labour outside and was returning to the village.
Within 6 months this is the second incident of barbarism against minorities in Nitish Govt. On 22 Dec 2010 when the villagers of Bamraha under Kursakanta were protesting against an incident of rape, the jawans of BSF murdered four people of minority community. These incidents expose the truth about good-governance in Nitish government.
The CPI(ML) has demanded immediate arrests of the police officers led by the SP who conducted the firing, BJP Councillor Ashok Aggarwal and his goons, charging them under IPC 302, cancelling the lease of the 28 acres land, maintain the said road as it was, compensation of rupees 10 lakhs to the family of the deceased, 3 lakhs rupees as compensation to those injured and judicial inquiry of the whole incident. All those injured in firing have been shot above their waist, more than 100 families of the 1000 are BPL families.