IN PATTERN WITH OTHER STATES BEFORE POLLS, BIHAR TOO HIT BY COMMUNAL VIOLENCE

MUZAFFARPUR: In a fresh incidence of violence, sanctioned by the idea of Love Jihad floated by right wing forces in the country,four persons were killed and 40 houses of a Muslim dominated village sarriya were burnt down by miscreants intending to create communal frenzy.

In a highly charged political atmosphere, six months before the state is to undergo voting for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state, right wings groups attacked Muslim houses over the reported marriage between a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl.

According to latest reports, the incident took place early evening on January 18. The boy Bharatayam (19) went missing after he had married the Muslim girl. A FIR was lodged by his family members at the local police station. A week later his dead body was found by a group of villagers searching for him. Almost immediately communal tensions flared up in the village and a group torched about 40 Muslim houses, burning alive four villagers.

The District Magistrate, Anupam Kumar, while talking to The Citizen over the phone, confirmed the report of the violence. But maintained that the situation was brought under control by the vigilant administration in the village. The Army has conducted a flag march in the village and curfew has been imposed, to prevent any further incidence of arson and violence.

Sources within the Bihar government said that a compensation of five lakhs was announced for the deceased and rehabilitation of those whose houses have been burnt by the miscreants under Indira Awas Yojna. The government has also announced a compensation package of rs 1.5 lac for the people injured in the clashes. And also a police station will be set up in the village at the earliest to ensure that law and order situation does not go out of control.

Kumar also asserted that no one involved in the crime will be left to roam free and appropriate action will be taken against all those who have been involved in the murder of the boy and those who instigated communal violence in the village.

Meanwhile the local residents also informed the Citizen Bureau that four fire Brigade vans deployed by the administration were also set ablaze by the rioting mob.

Political sources said that instructions have been given by the Bihar state government to the administration to be vigilant against attempts to stoke communal fires in the state. “We expect trouble as this has become a pre-election pattern in states,” the sources said.

Janata Dal(U) leader Nitish Kumar has made it very clear in the past that the BJP will “make all efforts to create violence and we have to ensure that we prevent this, and at least take immediate action.” Prompt action by the administration, including a flag march by the Army, has brought the Muzaffarpur situation under control but the authorities are still worried as the tensions continue. The sources said that this was part of the communal divide sought to be created by the right wing groups with their propaganda on ‘love jihad’ with “full advantage” being taken whenever a situation of the kind arose.

Bihar will be facing the Assembly elections later this year in what will be a tense battle between the BJP on the one side and the formidable Nitish-Lalu alliance of the Janata Dal(U) and Rashtriya Janata Dal respectively on the other. The Congress party could also join the erstwhile Janata Dal colleagues in a bid to prevent the BJP from gaining power in this crucial state.

Over the past one year, since the Lok Sabha elections, every state going to the polls has faced communal violence in the build up. Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh set the tone for the parliamentary elections, with Haryana, Maharashtra, and even Delhi facing bouts of communal violence before polling day.