Tame Bihar’s wild mobs
Violence lit by supporters of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh, who was shot dead on Friday, has engulfed Patna in the past two days, with wanton attacks on police posts and the burning and stoning of vehicles by mobs gone wild. Some trouble has also been reported from other parts of Bihar. This is an undesirable state of affairs, and underlines the failure of the state administration to deal with the situation effectively. It appears that the police did not act with alacrity, and gave no sign of anticipating the extensive violence. It should have, given the circumstances — the nature of the organisation whose chief had been killed, and the decision to bring the body from Arah to Patna, a distance of 70 km, for cremation in spite of the prevailing heat wave.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has done well to order an inquiry into the killing, but it is to be regretted that state BJP chief C.P. Thakur, whose party runs a coalition government with Mr Kumar’s JD(U), took part in the Ranvir Sena procession in Patna, as did Lalan Singh, a prominent JD(U) MP. Many may think of a caste angle here. The Ranvir Sena is a dreaded army of landlords that was created by the slain leader of the powerful Bhumihar caste from Arah. It has been blamed for massacring dalits. Many important BJP functionaries in Bihar are from this caste, but they cannot legitimately be seen in the company of violent mobs.
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