CPI(ML) Liberation organised statewide protests across Bihar on July 4 against mob lynching, fake encounters, "bulldozer raj" and police repression under the slogan, "Provide Work, Ensure Employment, Curb Price Rise, Uphold the Constitution and the Rule of Law." The protests followed the call given by CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya after his July 1 visits to Bihar Sharif, Nagarnausa and Belauti village in Bhojpur, where he met the families of victims of mob violence and police repression.
On July 1, a high-level CPI(ML) team led by Dipankar Bhattacharya visited Ganjpar in Bihar Sharif to meet the families of Shravan Paswan and Pintu Paswan, the two Dalit youths who were beaten to death in Rajgir. The team then visited Nagarnausa, where it met residents who had faced police repression while protesting the shifting of a degree college. Later, the delegation visited Belauti village in Shahpur block of Bhojpur district and met the family of Bharat Tiwari, besides interacting with villagers. The delegation included State Secretary Kunal, Paliganj MLA Sandeep Saurav, former MLA Ajit Kushwaha, Amar and Santosh Sahar.
Addressing a press conference in Arrah on July 1, Dipankar Bhattacharya said the biggest challenge before Bihar and the country today was to defend the rule of law. "The government wants to replace law and justice with encounters, bulldozers and repression as its model of governance. From the Assembly to the streets, people will resist this model with full force and will never accept it," he said.
Referring to the Belauti case, he said Bharat Tiwari's sister said the government was trying to shield the accused and manage the entire case. He said the investigation was being influenced and demanded a fair probe into the role of influential persons, along with the immediate suspension of those concerned until the investigation was completed.
He stressed that no incident should be viewed through the prism of caste. "Whether it is Bharat Tiwari, the Dalit youths killed in Rajgir or any victim from any community, everyone deserves equal justice," he said. He added that killings after asking a person's caste and lynching people for entering temples were a blot on any civilised society.
Turning to economic issues, Dipankar Bhattacharya said soaring prices, the systematic weakening of MGNREGA and the new labour codes were intensifying attacks on the rights of working people. While young people were demanding employment, he said, the government had delivered unemployment and repeated examination paper leaks. Referring to the ongoing student movement in Delhi, he expressed solidarity with the indefinite hunger strike led by AISA on the issues of education and employment and reiterated the demand that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign, taking moral responsibility.
He said that while crores of people had been mobilised in the name of building the Ram temple, donation and land scams had now come to light. This, he said, was a betrayal of the faith of millions of devotees and must be subjected to an impartial investigation.
Announcing the next phase of the party's campaign, Dipankar Bhattacharya said CPI(ML) would intensify statewide mass movements around the slogans "Control Prices, Provide Work," "End Bulldozer Raj," "Restore the Rule of Law," and "Save Democracy." He announced that a new phase of statewide struggles on these issues would begin in August.
The July 4 protests raised demands for an end to mob lynching, fake encounters, police repression and bulldozer demolitions, while calling for employment, control of price rise, protection of democratic rights and the Constitution, and the restoration of the rule of law.
