Law and order situation in Bihar appears to be serious with ten murders committed within last 24 hours. In Purnea, five members of a family were burnt to death, two were shot dead in Nalanda, a government employee was stabbed to death in Muzaffarpur in front of his wife and son, the owner of a private school in Patna was shot, while a Hindu youth was killed with swords during a Moharram procession in Motihari. The state police appears to clueless.
Two days ago, a reputed businessman Gopal Khemka was murdered in Patna. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is silent over this spate of murders. Even NDA ally Chirag Paswan has raised questions on law and order. RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav has alleged that the Chief Minister “has joined hands with criminals in order to retain power.”
In Motihari, groups from two communities clashed during a Moharram procession. A 22-year-old youth Ajay Yadav was attacked with lathis and swords and he died on the spot. Two persons have been arrested. There were reports of clashes in Katihar, Bhagalpur, Araria, Darbhanga and Samastipur also during Moharram processions.
The spike in the number of crimes in Bihar clearly points to the fact that the mafia has stopped fearing the police. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is yet to comment on this situation. He does not appear to be pro-active. How can people expect police to take action? For every crime, the police has a standard reply, “investigation is continuing”.
People in Bihar have started saying that had Yogi Adityanath been the CM of Bihar, murderers would have been either killed or critically injured by now. The people of Bihar want fast and strong action from the government.
If Nitish Kumar is unable to take action, he can hand over the Home portfolio to an active minister. For JD(U) leaders to say, “those who were responsible for Jungle Raaj during the Nineties have no right to raise questions about law and order now” does not hold water. People of Bihar have the right to live fearlessly. They must be allowed to live.
Are Uddhav & Raj stoking Marathi issue for BMC elections?
More than 100 supporters of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena under the banner of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, were detained by police in Mira-Bhayandar of Thane district on Tuesday, when they took out a procession without prior permission. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, permission was given for a rally, but MNS workers insisted on going in a procession on a particular route, which could have caused tension.
Fadnavis said, “Marathis have a large heart. The Marathi people always cared for the nation and are never selfish…But when it came to the rally, they were pushing for a particular route. If permission had been given, there could have been a law and order situation.”
The MNS was trying to stage a counter-protest after traders protested over MNS workers assaulting a food stall owner for not speaking Marathi.
On Monday, BJP MP from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey alleged that both MNS and Uddhav Shiv Sena members were beating up Hindi-speaking people in Mumbai and are forcing them to speak in Marathi. He challenged them to try beating people who speak Hindu and Urdu outside Mahim Dargah. Dubey went to the extent of saying that “Ghar Mein Toh Kutta Bhi Sher Hota Hai”.
Countering this, NCP(Sharad Pawar) MLA Jitendra Ahwad said, BJP is trying to polarize voters ahead of BMC municipal elections and this conspiracy would not be allowed to succeed.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar compared those beating up non-Marathi speaking people with the terrorists of Pahalgam.
Uddhav Thackeray described Nishikant Dubey as a hyena who is forcibly trying to create controversy. He said, comparing Marathis with Pahalgam terrorists amounts to insulting “Marathi Manoos”. The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said, he himself speaks Hindi and has no problem with the language, but his party is opposing imposition of Hindi on primary school children in Maharashtra.
This is not the first time non-Marathi speaking people have been targeted in Mumbai and suburbs. It is also not a secret that both the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, are trying to stoke Hindi-Marathi controversy for cornering votes.
For the first time, after several decades, the two estranged cousins came together on a single platform on Sunday in Mumbai to save the Maratha base of their parties. Those beating and abusing people for votes in Maharashtra have no right to say that Nishikant Dubey is making such remarks to garner votes for his party in Bihar elections.