A State level CPI (ML)-AIARLA team visited Bhagalpur on 11-12 December and enquired into the incident of a lathi-charge on Dalit protesters in which the Bihar police had brutally stripped and beaten Dalit. The team also met the injured protesters and went to Sultanganj to get full information of the incident. The team comprised State committee members, AIARLA State Secretary Com. Gopal Ravidas and AIARLA State Joint Secretary Com. Pankaj Singh.
The team met the injured women at Bhagalpur Nehru Hospital—Sukhiya Devi, Tabli Devi, Kaili Devi, Sushila Devi and Kabuli Devi (village Tilakpura, Ganhariya). The most seriously injured woman who has broken bones in the neck and ribs told the team that in 1972, 1976 and 1988 they had been allotted about 39 acres of ‘ceiling fazil’ land by the Bhoodan Yagya Committee, but people from the dominant sections are not allowing them to settle on that land.
“From 1988 we have been making our demands from the administration. But so far only 1304 people have been given possession. The descendants of Siyasharan Singh, and Sunil Singh (all associated with BJP or RJD) have captured the land. Dominant caste Yadav goons threaten us all the time.” Some local leaders have started an NGO ‘Jan Sansad’ through which they are working among the poor on land and health issues. They have the support of Rinku Yadav of the Nyay Manch (formerly associated with the CPI (ML)). It was under their leadership that the poor went on a protest in front of the Bhagalpur DM on 5 December for possession of the land. On 8 December ADM Harishankar Prasad called the leaders of the protest for talks with the DM.
The delegation was about to proceed for the talks when Sadar SDO Anuj Kumar suddenly ordered the lathi charge. The women were half-stripped and brutally beaten. Dozens of women were injured and later admitted to the Bhagalpur hospital. 6 people from the protest venue were sent to Bhagalpur jail.
The FIR against protesters is clearly fabricated – it even contains names of people who were in Delhi on that day. A student who studies at AK Gopalan College is also named in the FIR. A case has also been registered against a youth Bunty who had gone to buy medicines at that time.
The team demanded that the DM, SP, and Sadar SDO of Bhagalpur be dismissed, arrested and tried under criminal charges for atrocities against Dalits and women. They demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all the arrested people and withdrawal of the false cases. They also demanded treatment and compensation for the injured. Above all they demanded that the holders of the land documents be given rightful possession of their land without delay.
On 9 December, Left parties took out a joint protest march against the Bhagalpur atrocity. The march started from Ghantaghar Chowk and culminated in a meeting at Station Chowk. As activists began gathering for the march, the police in large numbers surrounded the venue and started heckling passers-by, rickshaw drivers etc. and tried to create an atmosphere of fear. When the march started, police vehicles also fronted and tailed the march and they tried to keep the common people away from the protesters. However, the spirited slogans of the protesters silenced the police.
Speakers at the meeting said that this incident has exposed the anti-poor and anti-dalit face of the Nitish government. The Left parties demanded immediate implementation of Bandopadhyay Commission recommendations on land reforms that Nitish Kumar has shelved to appease the feudal landed forces.
On 16 December, Left parties held a Bhagalpur Bandh which was very successful. A protest March was held in Patna on that day, and processions were also held in Masaurhi, Fatuha, Muzaffarpur, Jehanabad, and Darbhanga.
