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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Bihar Government orders judicial probe into Forbesganj police firing by Neena Vyas

Bihar Government orders judicial probe into Forbesganj police firing by Neena Vyas

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published Published on Jun 21, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 21, 2011
A judicial inquiry has been ordered by the Nitish Kumar government into the police firing in Forbesganj on June 3 in which four Muslims were killed and several others injured. The Government would await its findings before taking action against anyone, said senior Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand Tewari here on Tuesday.

Talking to journalists, Mr. Tewari virtually justified the lack of any immediate compensation for the relatives of those killed, except for one toddler.

He said the government would have to await the judicial commission's report to establish “whether the firing was provoked [by the victims] or unprovoked” before announcing compensation. He added that a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh had been announced for the death of a toddler in the incident. The clear implication was that no compensation may be paid to the adult victims if the inquiry finds the firing was “provoked.”

With Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar away in China, it was Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi of the BJP who was taking decisions. Later, social activist Shabnam Hashmi and film maker Mahesh Bhatt said the incident was a “reflection of a communal mentality” and was “akin to what happened in Gujarat [in 2002]. Video footage, freely available on You Tube, shows one person repeatedly kicking a body.”

Party president Sharad Yadav has reportedly said he disagreed with the decision to order a judicial enquiry. He did not elaborate except to add that he was not consulted.

The comparison by Mr. Bhatt to Gujarat has been all the more galling to the Nitish Kumar government as the Chief Minister had practically prevented his coalition partner, the BJP, from allowing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to campaign in Bihar for the last Assembly elections. The BJP yielded as Mr. Kumar had made it a prestige issue citing the importance of the minority vote in the State.

Suspected BJP role

With the Chief Minister away, the BJP's role became suspect as people were protesting against the blocking of a road from a Muslim village to an Idgah when a boundary wall was being marked for land for the Bihar industrial development board. There are news reports from the State that a BJP legislator — whose relative had some interest in the land — was allegedly present at the spot and might have called for the police.

Giving an example of the Bihar government's “caring nature,” Mr. Tewari said those attending to the injured in the hospital were also being given “free food.”

As for the terms of reference of the judicial enquiry, he did not know what those were as the government had left it to the Chief Justice of the Patna High Court “lest we be accused of partisanship.”

The BJP had not much to say on the incident although in the case of the Bhatta-Parsaul episode in Uttar Pradesh, the party was not satisfied with the order of an enquiry by the Mayawati government. Several top party leaders tried to visit Bhatta-Parsaul but Forbesganj was ignored.

The Hindu, 22 June, 2011, http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/22/stories/2011062260210100.htm


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