Bihar; justice denied.
Bihar is among the least developed states of India it has a per capita income of $155 a year against India’s average of $255. 30.6% of people live below the poverty line against India’s average of 22.15%. Its G D P in 2000 was a mere Rs. 469,430. Historically, a major centre of learning and home to the universities dating back to the fifth century. Present day Bihar has a grossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating a huge mismatch between demand and supply. But this does not articulate anyhting about the law and order situation in Bihar. A Cartoon in one of the leading national papers showed the goddess of justice , in a withered state, leave bihar. The state has seen it all, from police atrocities when prisoners were blinded by acid, to mulktiple communal riots and public beating of theives and crooks. The future of bihar is gloomy , despite the high number of IAS officers, IITans and IIM graduates it produces. We can blame lack of vision of the political classes, and inadequate investments in agriculture, infrastructure and education. In addition, mis-rule caste-dominated politics and rampant corruption by politicians & bureaucrats as the cause of the lack of development of the state. The media got stirred up by a recent event, when Mohammed Aurangzeb snatched a gold chain of Shanti Devi, of Nathnagar in Bhagalpur, on her way back to her home from a temple and fled. Some people in the area gave a chase to the crook While the chain was recovered sometime later, the irate mob – bent on lynching the thief, Salim – continued to bash him up. Shockingly, the residents were encouraged and even helped by the local police. Together, they continued to thrash Salim on the streets of Bhagalpur, in full public view, for three hours. Salim was tied to a policeman’s motorcycle and dragged around town, leaving him critically ill in a hospital. The incident, however, enraged the local people who then attacked the police station demanding suspension of Constable L. B. Singh and inspector Ramchandra Rai and proof of Aurangzeb still being alive. A mere chain snatching could not have triggered off the incident it was more. It was a poor Muslim man, snatching the chain of a Hindu woman in front of a temple. It was the audacity of police who felt that they had the right to beat the life out of a man. It was the changed notion with which Bihar views violence and is comfortable with the new norms of the society. It was the evidence of lack of human right but worst is that it was hyped for few days and then forgotten. The public memory shifted from Salim to Salman and then to Sachin. However, Bihar kept reminding us of its lack of law in our “shining” country. After a few days, police blinded a teenager by poking iron rods in his eyes, and at another place, 10 people were beaten to death because they were suspected to have stolen, their bodies thrown into Ganga and left for dogs and vultures. It ’s not that we don’t have laws to deal with this situation the article 311 , 2 (b) states that Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State is only to be recorded by that authority in writing, if it is not reasonably practicable to hold an inquiry i.e when the person is guilty beyond doubt. Nevertheless, dismissal of two constables solves no problem. The word Bihar means, “abode”, but what once was a nest for education, knowledge, politics and culture is fostering the criminals, corruption and jungle raj. The solution lie’s neither in human rights commission sending notices nor in the dharana’s staged by many. Bihar faces not just violence but also it has accepted that violence is the way of life. A way of life, which has percolated in mind sets of a once civic society.
