By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Amidst reports which point out the complicity of the Sushil Kumar Modi, the Deputy CM of Bihar, in the killing of six innocent villagers by the Bihar police in Forbesganj block in Araria, the state unit of CPI (M) has alleged that Nitish Kumar was responsible for the brutal incident.
Avdhesh Yadav, member of the state committee of CPI (M), who was part of the three member fact finding team, which visited Forbesganj on June 6, told TwoCircles.net on phone that the main culprit responsible for the whole episode, Ashok Agarwal who is also the local MLC, has got the patronage of the Nitish Kumar government.
It was Agarwal, Yadav alleged, who on June 3, got the local police to start firing on unarmed villagers who were protesting against the acquisition of the land which was being used by them as the connecting road between two villages, Rampur and Bhajanpur. Agarwal, who is considered to be a big land mafia, had acquired the land for his factory.
On 3rd June 2011, residents of Rampur and Bhajanpur villages under Forbesganj block in Araria district came out, after Juma Prayer, to protest against blockade of the connecting road between the two villages for a factory. The police not only opened fire on the protestors but chased them to their homes, entered in and killed even women and infant pointblank. Six people including two women and a six-month-old infant of the two villages of 90% Muslim population were killed. While the state government claims that four people were killed, TwoCircles.net has got a video of the bodies of all six victims including the infant.
Seven year child who was killed in Forbesganj police firing
For the common villagers who are mainly daily wage labors, the land was the only connection to the local market, hospital and the outside world. Without taking the villagers into confidence and after bribing the local administration the local goons Agarwal acquired the land and got it blocked which led to the blockage of the main way for the villagers. Yadav informed TCN that Agarwal had taken the land on lease from the government of Bihar on very cheap rates in 1980 and one matter opposing the take over is also in the local court.
CPI (M) has alleged that nearly a week after the tragedy the state government hasn’t taken any immediate action which could show its seriousness on the issue. Only a judicial probe has been ordered the report of which will take months to complete.
What is most unfortunate, the CPI (M) member said, that there hasn’t been any immediate relief to the victims who are poor labors and who don’t have any thing to fall back upon in case of emergency. “In fact they haven’t yet received the usual government relief in case of death which is ten thousand or so,” added Yadav.
A victim of Forbesgan police firing
The CPI (M) which has planned a state wide dharna on June 14th has demanded from the state government an immediate registration of FIR against Agarwal and suspension of the local police officers responsible for firing on the unarmed villagers. The party has also asked for the compensation of ten lakhs and one government job to the family of those killed.
Subhashini Ali, senior leader of CPI (M) says that “the larger picture of the Forbesganj firing incident is that Nitish Kumar government has failed to stop the communal polarization of the state done by its won ally BJP. In fact Nitish has given the saffron party a free hand.”
“What we need to highlight is that the programmes of communal polarization done by the BJP during the last five years which resulted in the substantial increase in its numbers in the state assembly. So this time the dependence of Nitish Kumar on the saffron party has increased more and more,” said Ali.