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| Massacre Man: Mukhia, lest we forget... |
It is a dark chapter in Indian history and not in a distant past but it has almost been forgotten. That there was a man who led a militia which held massacres at will.
Innumerable women and children were brutally killed by this feudal casteist organisation, at the helm of which was Brahmeshwar Singh alias Mukhia.
This private army supported by landlords didn't spare even girls and infants, who were slaughtered, because they felt 'saa.npole bhi saa.np bante hain' as progeny of snakes shouldn't be allowed to grow because they would also one day become your enemy and exact revenge.
The group that committed such atrocities on Dalits, Recently, when he was shot dead, there was the realisation and recollection of that period. Social tensions haven't gone but the violent phase of caste wars between the landed upper castes and the poor lower castes in Bihar, is over.
But is it really over? It is not on the ground but still exists. The fact that a lawmaker--minister in Bihar government Giriraj Singh termed him a Gandhian, should probably unsettle us. But was there any outrage in media, except a few statements from opposition parties in Bihar.
Giriraj Singh also said that Mukhiya 'ji' had dedicated his life for the farmers, poor and in order to bring peace and harmony in the society. Unimaginable words. Aren't they? Singh is cabinet minister in Nitish Kumar's JDU-BJP government.
Ranvir Sena was involved in mindless killings of Scheduled Castes. For example, they killed 50 people in 1995. In Bathanitola [Bhojpur], Patna and Ekwari, they killed 22, 10 and 10 Dalits respectively in the next couple of years.
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| Mukhia was Gandhian: Giriraj Singh |
Then came the massacres in Jehanabad like Laxmanpur Bathe killings and the murders in Aurangabad, Nawada and Gaya. Such violence should have prompted Centre & state governments to immediately take action.
It is true that it came as reaction to Naxalism but the Sena couldn't have grown without support from section of politicians. It had become a monstrous force for years.
Such was their brutality that girls' faced were disfigured in attacks and kids' necks hacked. Sadly, even today, we see his supporters among politicians and society.
Brahmeshwar Singh was finally arrested but the man who faced charge of causing massacres managed to come out of jail in 2011. He was recently killed and his supporters in Ara went on ransacking shops and houses, burning government property after the incident.
But Giriraj Singh was not alone in his admiration for the slain Ranvir Sena head. There were others also. The last rites showed that he had wide support among certain sections. Thousands were present in the funeral procession and even thereafter.
Clearly, the violence is not on the streets but it remains in the mind. Incidentally, the BJP minister Giriraj Singh is the same person who recently took on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, when he said that JDU won't accept Narendra Modi as NDA's prime ministerial candidate.
Singh, who is minister for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, made a sharp attack on JDU and even dared the CM to sack him from his cabinet. This post has been written as there is need to remember history, quite recent events, which we must not forget.
