By Manzar Bilal, TwoCircles.net,
Patna: This was perhaps first time he was publicly speaking on the Forbesganj police firing. There was no sign of sadness on his face. In fact he was smiling. He didn’t use a word to say the killing of four people including an infant and a pregnant woman was a sad incident. He began speaking on the incident with these words: “People are making a mountain out of a molehill.” Killing of four unarmed villagers by the state police is a molehill for Chief Minister of the state Nitish Kumar. Did you hear?
Perhaps here lies the reason of his cold and indifferent attitude towards the police killings of June 3 in Bhajanpur village of Forbesganj block in Araria district. Leave alone the CM, he didn’t send any minister or any representative of his ruling party JD-U to the village. He didn’t suspend any police officer. He didn’t announce any compensation. Full seven days after the gruesome killings, he melted a little – maybe after someone told him about a 6-month-old victim who fell to the state bullet – and he announced a compensation for him.
True he sent two top officers to the spot within 24 hours. But they first appeared just short of justifying the police firing. Only after they were shown the video footage of a Home Guard jawan stomping over half-dead body of an 18-year-old youth that they changed their mind and recommended a judicial probe into the incident.
But till today the killing remains a non-issue for the CM, and this was evident from his speech at a state level conference organized by JD-U Minority Cell on 23rd June.
“An incident happened in Forbesganj and we were fast to send a team comprising Home Secretary Amir Subhani and Additional Director General of police (HQ) Rajyawardhan Sharma to the spot to know the facts. On the basis of their report we ordered a judicial inquiry. But some people are making a mountain out of a molehill. I do not know what happened that several people are coming from other parts of the country,” said Nitish Kumar while addressing more than one thousand Muslim workers of his party in the state capital.
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Nitish Kumar
Why is the killing of four unarmed poor villagers insignificant and a non-issue for the Chief Minister? Is it because the victims were poor or they were Muslims? Or the people behind the all issue are from the ruling partner BJP? Only the CM knows.
In his speech, he however assured that his government will take action next day of receiving the report from the judicial commission constituted by the state government to probe the Forbesganj police firing. But it should be noted that the government had announced judicial inquiry into the incident on 7th June but the commission was notified 15 days later on 22nd June – the day National Commission for Minorities Wajahat Habibullah was visiting the state capital to meet governor and top officers of the state over the Forbesganj police firing.
He promised that his government will take action as it did in Bhagalpur riots case. “It was my government which after coming into power in 2005 that reopened 29 cases of Bhagalpur riots that were closed by the earlier government despite enough evidence against the culprits. We not only put the culprits behind the bars but also compelled Centre to give compensation to the Bhagalpur riots victims on a par with that given to the victims of the anti-Sikh riots in 1984. We also started lifetime pension for the victims. We will do the same in the Forbesganj incident but let the report first come” he said.
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Twenty days have passed for the brutal killing of poor residents of Bhajanpur village but except home guard jawan who stomped the half-dead body of a victim no action has been taken against the police officers who were present when the inhuman scene was being enacted. Moreover, barring 7-month infant whose family given Rs. 3 lakh no compensation has been announced for the victims. The Chief Minister repeatedly said that the compensation to the victims and action against the culprits will be taken only on the basis of the report by judicial commission.
One may ask, when it took the government 15 days to notify for constitution of judicial commission after announcement then how much time the commission will take to complete the probe on the basis of which they will take action. Is a fair inquiry possible when the involved officers remain on the posts in the same area? What will happen with the affected people who lost their bread-earners? Normally, such commissions take several months and sometimes years for completing the probe. If the commission holds police responsible for the incident in its report, will you give compensation to the villagers when they would have lost other loved ones due to lack of treatment or hunger?
In the wake of these injustices done with poor people, Nitish Kumar’s claim seemed mockery that he would like to quit CM’s post but will not tolerate injustice done with the people of any community and castes. “Everyone should know that till I am on the post injustice will not be done with anyone. I would prefer to quit the post to doing injustice with any citizen of the state” he claimed while speaking at the conference.
He said that his government has got confidence of minorities due to several welfare schemes initiated by the government for them during last six years.