An Indian expat living in KSA, currently in Nawada expresses his anguish.
By Faisal Sultan,
Nawada: The lower level police force in retaliation making a mockery of law not only distorted and twisted the reason of the riots in Nawada but also cooked up few modes of appendix to show the minority aa dreaded group and anti-Hindu. The Local Daroga and Police excesses have not surprised us as they have record of wrong doings in Bundelkhand PS with locals and landlords.
We were disappointed to see the one side action before deploying of RAF and higher official of police from Patna, Nalanda and Gaya. This is due to posting of Sub- Inspector (Daroga) is not based on basis and another issue is all police posted in PS is like a local resident and they never transferred.
Bihar police watched as watcher when mob set fire to shops and looted them. Most of the damage has been done to shops in the main Vijay Bazaar area where office of the Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate in the bazaar is only 15 to 20 meter.
How did so much vandalism take place in such a key area where there was already a lot of police deployment, is the question asked by all minority community citizens. The property of the other community, in this area is safe, except minority community raises many questions. On the hospital road, another key location in the town, residents of Darji Tola heard the mob raised slogans supporting Narendra Modi and criticizing Nitish Kumar.
Many questioned raised the nature of the clash in which minority community was apparently targeted in presence of local lower level administration, police management (From sub-Inspector level to Police force).
All the minority community shops are located 15 to 20 meter near the Superintendent of Police and District Magistrate office. So where was the administration? Even Iqbal’s murder took place in the presence of the police by the mob.
According to the local people, the fight at the Dhaba started when a group of minority youth saw they are misbehaving with Muslim girl. The owner Pankaj Yadav alias Duldul propagates different story in front of police and different story in community to escalate the issue. This is the epic point of this clash, it need to be investigated and truth need to come out so that culprits can be punished.
In the Par Nawada, a stone’s throw from the Bundelkhand police station where a pitched fight took place on Monday, residents exposed the official extortion story. They alleged that the groups of boys were with a woman and a tiff over a personal matter was given a communal color.
I want to point out to the conspicuous oddness against minority persons preferring to eat at a non-minority outlet on the occasion of Eid. Minority questioned the role of the Bundelkhand police station and the media is misrepresenting the events.
Bundelkhand Police station operates from a rented place and operates as per the wishes of the private landlord. Citizen of the Bundelkhand demanding for long that the police station should have an official Independent building and free from any influence. The media only reported the death and loss to property of one community, spoiling out the loss to minority community. How do people claim their losses?”
Anytime you go to that police station, they just open fire on you and then shift the blame saying the station was under attack, several minority people claimed.
For the last two years, the town has been on the boil, with communal tension marking every festival. Last Holi and last two Ram Navmis saw minor conflicts. In 1986, there was a major riot, after which a peace committee meeting ruled that either the SP or the DM should be from the minority community. However, in recent transfer of officials, this ruling was ignored due to all posting in Nawada was influenced by Nawada BJP- MP.
The government has raised the National Security Act and indefinite curfew is under way in Nawada. Bihar government has imposed this curfew to hide its failure to control the Riots. This matter could have been settled on Day One. But the inability of the local lower level police and administration to act against the culprits has strengthened the situation further.
Minority want to live with honour. Peace is valued to us but it should be with dignity. We condemn the arrests of all innocent minority who had been detained because of their Muslim identity.
I don’t think that I am wrong in saying that by giving a “go-ahead” to crack down against a section of any community who had committed crime or taken law and order in hand.
Entire episode needs to be investigated by CBI and culprits shall be punished so that truth should come out.
(Faisal Sultan is an engineer working in Saudi Arabia, currently in Nawada.)