Thousands of people bid a final farewell to comrade Baleshwar Paswan on 2 November, at Bahadurpur block of Darbhanga district. Co-editor of Samkaleen Lokyuddh Pradeep Jha, CPI(ML) Bihar state standing committee member comrade Rajaram, Madhubani district secretary Jitendra Kumar, Darbhanga district secretary Vaidyanath Yadav, Darbhanga district standing committee member Laxmi Paswan, comrades Nandlal Thakur, Abhishek Kumar, Ashok Paswan and other members of the district committee, Muzaffarpur district committee member Shatrughan Sahni, Kisan Mahasabha leader Jitendra Yadav, AISA state office secretary Dhiraj Kumar, and several comrades from different districts were present at the funeral. On 1 November, Comrade Baleshwar Paswan was abducted by Surendra Yadav (who is often seen with CPI(M) leaders during local CPI(M) programmes), Mahesh Yadav, CPI(M) state council member Shyam Bharti and others. He was then brutally beaten to death. Comrade Paswan came from a landless family, and had been a committed activist with the CPI(ML) since 1984-85. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Pirri Baruara local committee and also a member of AIALA’s district committee.
Pirri panchayat, which comes under the Bahadurpur block, has been a stronghold of the party for the past 30 years. For the past 14 years, party members have been winning important seats in the panchayat elections in this area. In the PACS elections this time too, CPI(ML)’s candidate comrade Nagendra Yadav won the post of panchayat PACS President, defeating Mahesh Yadav who is now with the CPI(M). The current head of the Pirri panchayat, comrade Jangi Yadav, who is also AIALA’s district President, has been facing threats and intimidation by Surendra Yadav’s goons for the past three months. During Dussehera, there were attempts on his life, and he was saved because comrade Baleshwar Paswan reached the spot and intervened. However, the threats continued. It is this group of goons which murdered Comrade Baleshwar Paswan.
Comrade Baleshwar Paswan was abducted along with two other people – though the others were released later, he was brutally beaten up. When the news of his abduction spread, hundreds of people went out in search of him. Seeing the huge crowd of people, the murderers escaped. Comrade Baleshwar was still alive when he was found by the people and was taken to the DMCH hospital. However he passed away the next morning as a result of the grievous injuries. The role of the police in this entire episode has been very dubious: they refused to take any action against the Surendra Yadav gang even though they had been continuously informed about the threats and intimidation. Even now, though three of the accused in Comrade Baleshwar Paswan’s murder have been arrested, the chief accused Surendra Yadav is still absconding.
Comrade Baleshwar’s murder appears to be the result of a political conspiracy. Feudal, casteist and criminal elements have felt threatened by CPI(ML)’s growing assertion in the area, and have perpetrated this murder to try and weaken the party. CPI(M)’s involvement in this incident also seems to be apparent. Massive protests against this murder were organized on 3 December in the entire Darbhanga district. A meeting in his memory was also organized in Bahadurpur block on 7 December 2014.
