Dec 28, 1998
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BIHAR Strong-arm Tactics Feeling the brunt of humiliation at the hands of RJD ministers, the state bureaucracy prepares for a face-off. By Sanjay K Jha When Satpal Singh, the young deputy SP of Saharsa district was killed in an encounter with a notorious gang from Khagaria on December 10, the people in the state thought it was yet another instance of a valiant police officer going down fighting Bihar's notorious criminals. It was, but there's a more alarming dimension to the whole episode. Singh's colleagues in the Bihar Police have revealed that the building from which the criminals had continuously fired at the police belonged to Mohammad Jaffar Alam, district president of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) youth wing.
Khurshid Anwar, SDM of the Sikhrana subdivision of East Champaran district, knew he was asking for trouble when he seized some firearms from a car parked at Bankatwa village during an election meeting on November 22. And he got it in no time. The vehicle belonged to Bihar's Minister for Building Construction Lal Babu Prasad Yadav, who had violated the prohibitory orders issued in the area due to assembly election in the Adapur assembly constituency three days later. An irate minister immediately complained to Sadhu Yadav, Chief Minister Rabri Devi's brother and de facto chief minister, who then called Anwar to the dais and publicly humiliated him. "Smart bante ho, naukari le lenge (Don't try to be smart, you'll lose your job)," Sadhu threatened. The unfazed SDM shot back: "Itna kasht aapko nahi karna hoga, main swayam istifa de doonga (You need not take the trouble, I will resign on my own)." Though this incident was eventually hushed up, there is no respite for junior-level officials who are forced to obey the instructions of the ministers and their family members. Says Anwar: "We are no longer public servants. We have been forced to become the servants of politicians." In September Prabhash Kumar, block development officer of Chirayian in West Champaran district, and Pawan Kumar Verma, a junior engineer, were allegedly attacked by Lal Babu's sons for refusing to sign cheques worth Rs 4.5 lakh recommended by the minister. When Kumar complained to Anwar -- who ordered the bank not to honour the cheques -- he was transferred to district headquarters. In a complaint filed in the Patna High Court, Kumar charged that the minister's sons, Shambhu Kumar and Om Prakash, "wielded guns and pressured me to issue cheques against the scheme recommended by their father". On November 9, the high court stayed his transfer. However, despite the issue of warrants against him, the sons of the minister have not been arrested as yet. "We are living under constant threat and nobody knows when they will kill us," says Kumar. Lal Babu denies these allegations: "My sons are innocent. It's my political opponents who are conspiring against me and hurling allegations." The incident reflects the situation in the rest of the state. On November 18, Land and Revenue Minister Ravindra Charan Yadav insulted and abused a land settlement officer at Samastipur during a sub-divisional level meeting. The list of such incidents in the state is endless (see box). However, the bureaucracy has now decided that it would not let the RJD goons get away with it. The Bihar Administrative Service Association (BASA) has deplored the Samastipur incident and demanded an apology from the minister. The basa also threatened to boycott all future ministerial meetings, forcing Ravindra Charan to eventually give in to pressure, who now says, "I had no intention of humiliating anybody." RJD state General Secretary Mohammad Massihuddin too regrets the behaviour of his partymen. "The RJD has become a gang of lumpens and it would certainly affect future politics." Other errant RJD members and ministers are unrepentant, saying they would continue to battle against the "misdeeds" of the bureaucracy. Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, who is leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, sees good reason for this chaotic scenario. "The patronage extended to the criminals by the ruling party and some officials' efforts to gain support of ruling party leaders has demoralised the state police and administration, apart from encouraging criminals to terrorise them." BASA president Baidyanath Prasad holds Rabri Devi responsible for the behaviour of her ministers. "The chief minister seems to have no control over her ministers and partymen." Janata Dal leader Laxmi Sahu, on the other hand, blames the officials for their plight. "If they are humiliated, they deserve it because they have turned spineless." But with the BASA taking up cudgels on behalf of the beleaguered bureaucracy, things could change for the better. |
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The killing of the senior police
officer not only points to a covert RJD-criminal nexus in the state, but also to a
disquieting trend in which RJD members -- from ministers to the lowest functionaries --
consider it their right to terrorise and humiliate government officials. 
