On February 16, statewide protest day was observed in Bihar under the joint banner of CPI(ML) and RYA against the life imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 awarded by the Gopalganj District Court to CPI(ML) State Committee member and RYA State President Comrade Jitendra Paswan, along with Comrade Shriram Kushwaha (40 years, resident of Koreyan, Bhore), in an fabricated murder case.
It is noteworthy that five other innocent persons are already serving life sentences in the same case. Addressing a protest meeting held at Buddha Smriti Park in Patna, party leaders termed the verdict unjust and politically motivated.
The leaders stated that in the 2020 Assembly elections, Comrade Jitendra Paswan, who contested from the Bhore Assembly constituency as a CPI(ML) candidate, was declared defeated by a margin of just 400 votes, while the JD(U) candidate Sunil Kumar was declared elected. The party alleged that the case was fabricated out of political vendetta following the election defeat.
Speakers at the meeting also recalled that earlier Comrade Manoj Manzil had been implicated in a false case. They said that such attempts to suppress opposition voices and crush democratic rights pose a serious threat to democracy. The movement against this unjust sentence will be intensified across the state.
Protest programs were also organized in several districts including Jehanabad, Gopalganj, Arwal, Ara, and Gaya.
