Dark Shadows on Bihar Continues

by Indra

June 25, 2006

Sunday Hindustan Times has come out with three stories from Bihar on a single day. The caption is self-explanatory. ‘BIHAR STORY CONTINUES. Some things don’t change.’ It just shocks and then depresses.

How could the Railway Minister who is getting accolades for his apt administration of Indian railways from everyone from inside the country as well as abroad tolerate such nonsense by his own men, joru-ka-bhais? How and why should the railway officials listen to their instructions? Will there be any affect on their professional careers if they don’t? Let us hear the story.

On Friday, Prabhunath Singh Yadav, the eldest of the in-laws allegedly got into a fight with the pantry staff on the New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express. Prabhunath was traveling with three ‘extra’ persons in the AC I coupe and wanted the pantry staff to serve food to all of them. They refused, saying the men did not have tickets. He then kicked up a row till the coach superintendent intervened.

Earlier in the week, Lalu’s other brothers-in-law, Anirudh Prasad Yadav aka Sadhu Yadav and Rajya Sabha MP Subhash Yadav, tried to get authorities at Patna Junction to change platforms assigned to the Rajdhani and Sampoorna Kranti Express. The Railways gave in to Subhash and changed the platform for the Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express. Elder brother Sadhu, who wanted the Sampoorna Kranti Express on Platform No 1 instead of 4, was persuaded to board the train from its usual platform.

Is the Indian railway the personal empire of Lalu’s family? Are its officers the paid servants of the family, and all the kiths and kin are the lords? Why can’t Lalu and Rabri disown them? Why can’t Lalu make a public statement on this incident, if he really wished to disown them? Is he afraid of them, as they have become so powerful?
And more horrendous was the hero of another incident who happens to be the people’s representative and belongs to Nitish’s political party.

SUNIL PANDEY, a Janata Dal (United) legislator from Piro, on Saturday downed a few pegs at Hotel Maurya and created a scene ugly enough to be thrown out from the party. Pandey had “forcibly” occupied the hotel’s Grand Prix suite (Room No. 401). To press, he said he was unhappy with the functioning of the state government. With wife Geeta holding him, an inebriated Pandey was escorted to his waiting red Scorpio in the portico of the hotel. Pandey reportedly left his suite in a mess, with glasses and a bottle strewn on the bed, pillows and blankets thrown all around and the washroom dirty without settling his bills. Pandey faces charges of kidnapping, murder and extortion. He was arrested in connection with the abduction of a doctor in 2003. Pandey had also been charged with patronising criminals involved in the kidnapping of noted neurosurgeon Dr Ramesh Chandra from the state capital.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar advised the hotel management to immediately lodge an FIR. Is it good enough an advice from the CM? Can he get the investors to the state with all these happenings? Why can’t Nitish be ruthless?

And then the third story also appears on the same day in the same newspaper.

RJD MP Raghunath Jha son Ajit Jha, an RJD legislator, accompanied by his wife and half a dozen companions after puja at the holy Baba Vishwanth temple in Varanasi had boarded the Punjab Mail for their journey back to Patna. Ajit and his companions promptly boarded the AC first class coach instead of the AC II of which they had legitimate tickets, only to be hauled by the ticket checking staff of the Mughalsarai division, who promptly detrained them for traveling in an upper class coach without valid tickets. Jha shouted and ranted like all of his ilk, but to no avail. The ticket checkers were unmoved. Unfortunately, the elder Jha was not around this time.

Here is the state that must get out of these shameful publicity to gets its due honour. But I was shocked to find some belonging to the community of these hoodlums talking heroic tales of these people without even a bit of shame. Do such rogues belong to a community and the community should own them? Why can’t the people of Bihar and particularly their own community get bold enough to disown them? It is shame if they don’t do it. It can’t go on for long. The administration must innovate a way to get the sick mental attitude of the so called goons turned politicians corrected at all cost in the interest of the state.

Return to previous Page