Thousands of people came out on the streets in Giridih district on 13 July 2015 against the killing of Com. Arun Pandey. Earlier, on 7 July too, a protest march had been taken out in Ranchi against the murder of Com. Arun. The protesters demanded the arrest of the culprits and exposed the murderous politics of the BJP. The people cautioned the police and administration not to shield the culprits. The police have arrested one accomplice of the killers and are calling it a matter of mutual enmity, but the statement of the arrested man exposes the BJP’s lie that he is an innocent Party activist.
The 13 July chakka jam brought rail and road traffic to a standstill across the district. The GT road and railway line at Hazaribagh were blocked for several hours causing stoppage of train traffic. Traffic remained blocked in almost all districts including Bagodar, Sariya, Birni, Dhanwar, Deori, Jamua, Bengabad, Gande, Giridih town and Dumri.
In the recent past, local criminals were being protected by BJP MLA Nagendra Mahto and it is these criminals who murdered Arun Pandey. Com. Arun, who had earlier worked under the leadership of Com. Mahendra Singh, was an extremely popular leader amongst the poor, dalits, and adivasis of Koyridih and neighbouring panchayats.
He had mobilized the marginalized people under the CPI (ML) banner in struggles against feudal and criminal elements. Considered a spoke in the wheel by the BJP who indulged in the politics of crime, a number of false cases had been slapped on him but he never allowed them to weaken the struggle. One hand, while the police under pressure from Nagendra Mahto are not apprehending the killer, on the other hand the Jharkhand State BJP President and Kodarma MP Ravindra Rai is openly issuing statements in support of the killers. Addressing the protest meeting, State Secretary Janardan Prasad said that the Raghuvar government is suppressing dissent by taking recourse to murder. He pointed out the killings of Com. Arun, 12 killings in Bakoriya, and the murder of Ladu Sao in Chandwa by the coal mafia. Party leaders who spoke, vowed that the Party would strengthen agitations throughout the State to fight against the unholy deeds of the BJP.
From the killings in Gujarat to the recent killer-Vyapam scam in MP, the killer politics of BJP is there for all to see. The people are coming out against this protection of killers, scamsters and corporates. Protest marches were also taken out and effigies of CM Raghuvar burnt in Ramgarh Patratu and Gulmi of Ramgarh district, Dhanbad town, and Jhumri Talaiyya of Kodarma district.
