People's Democracy

 

BIHAR

 

Yet Another Horror Story from Diara Land

 

Vijay Kant Thakur

 

IN Bihar, the area known as Diara, stretching from Lakhisarai to Mokamah, has been for ages ruled over by the landlords and dreaded criminals who are masters of the entire area and enjoy the protection and backing of the ruling establishment.

 

Recently, a horror story of death and destruction unfolded here on November 18, when the last leg of voting was yet to be completed.

 

On November 18, dreaded landlord Krishnachandra Prasad Singh and his armed gang raided Pithua village under Piparia police station of Lakhisarai district and destroyed the oilseed crops cultivated by the peasants of the village. When the hapless and aggrieved peasants tried with folded hands to reason with him, he immediately ordered his goons to open fire. While Bachchan Rajak, Kusheshwar Bhagat and Pramila Devi died on the spot, another person was seriously injured and was hospitalised in a critical condition.

 

The information comes from a CPI(M) team, led by its state secretary Vijay Kant Thakur, that visited the site of incidence soon after it took place.

 

State Kisan Sabha general secretary Awadhesh Kumar, the CPI(M)’s acting district secretary Moti Sao, state committee member Ravi Vilochan Verma, district Kisan Sabha secretary Shivdani Singh Bachchan and SFI state secretary Roushan Kumar Sinha were other members of the visiting CPI(M) team.

 

The CPI(M) team informs that there are six thousand acres of government land in Pithua village. In the year 1984, the government allotted 943 acres of land to the poor and 15,000 rupees per head to clear the land and settle there. They were the victims of land erosion by the rampaging Ganga river.

 

After clearing the land, the poor peasants settled there and erected something in the name of their houses. Thousand of people thus started a fresh life. With hard work thus put in by the peasants, the fertile Diara land started yielding bumper crops. Many such villages like Piparia, Koyalwa, Navki etc came up in that area and thousands of people have been living there. The government too opened primary schools in Koyalwa and Navki villages.

 

In Piparia village, seven thousand people are living. There is also a police station in the village. But the peasants of Piparia village have not been given land deeds and other legal papers for erecting houses.  

 

The two dreaded landlords of the area --- late Baidynath Prasad and Krishnachandra Prasad Singh --- have been the real rulers of the area. Though Baidyanath Prasad is no more, his sons and relatives are carrying on his noxious legacy with same ruthlessness.

 

Of late, the landlords started evicting the peasants from the government land and making all these villages inaccessible to the villagers by erecting wire hedges and stopping the construction of roads leading to those villages. Electricity connections were cut off and the villagers were driven out. The unlawful activities of these two landlords knew no bounds. They are the law unto themselves. Their arrogance reached its peak when late socialist leader Jaiprakash Narayan visited the area but late Bauidyanath Prasad let his elephant loose in order to disturb his meeting.

 

Koyalwa and Navki villages have now been razed to the ground and the primary schools in those villages are being run in makeshift arrangements at other places. The entire ten square kilometre area is the private preserve of these two landlords.

 

Since then, much water has flown down the Ganga and the socialists of different shades and colours have occupied the seat of power but none dared to take action against the landlords. Five thousand families, who have purchased their plots from the government, have been left to fend for themselves as the landlords have dispossessed them from their home and hearth, disregarding their legal status. The murderers are roaming free while Nitish Kumar is basking in the glory of the massive mandate he received in the recently concluded assembly elections.

 

On the basis of its investigation on the spot, the state committee of the CPI(M) has put forward the following demands.

 

1) All the accused of the Pithua incident should be immediately arrested and its prime accused Krishnachandra Prasad should be booked under the Crime Control Act. The accused should be prosecuted through a speedy trial.

 

2) A police picket should be posted to look after the safety and security of the Pithua villagers.

 

3) Action should be taken against the negligence of duty by jawans of the Piparia police station.

 

4) The district administration was quite aware of the situation did not take any preventive action and allowed the situation to aggravate, resulting in the loss of three innocent lives. This criminal negligence of the district administration must be investigated and the erring officials brought to book.

 

5) The Mahadalits inhabiting the area must be provided adequate protection.

 

6) Those who possess purchase deeds should be given physical possession of the land. Those poor who till the land, they should be provided with legal possession.

 

7) The family members of the victims should be provided two lakh rupees as compensation and one member of each victim’s family should be provided a government job.

 

8) Those responsible for razing Koyalwa and Navki villages to ground should be brought to book and these village rehabilitated.

 

9) The government land measuring tens of thousands of acres should be distributed among the extremely poor Mahadalits.

 

The party has warned that it would have no option but to launch struggles to get the demands conceded if the government does not pay heed to them in a month’s time.