annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights

INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Bihar
night of 29 March 2004, alleged criminals
shot dead Narendra Singh, the Beur Prison
Jailor, near Nala Road under Kadam Kuan
police station in Patna. 2 On 14 November
2004, unidentified criminals shot dead
Basudeo Prasad, a professor of CM
Science College under Lalit Narayan
Mithila University of Darbhanga when he
was on his way to Sultanganj in Patna to
meet his relatives. 3
In 2004, the TVS Motors withdrew its
operation. In the past two years, other
business establishments like Maruti
Suzuki Ltd, Hero Honda, Yamaha Bajaj,
Escorts, Videocon, too have reportedly
shifted base from Bihar. Reports of
traders, businessmen, government officials
and other people getting kidnapped,
ransom calls and extortion threats from the
criminals patronised by politicians and the
underworld are routine. 4
The violence and killings by the
criminals and the armed opposition groups
like Ranvir Sena, Peoples War (PW) and
Maoists Communist Centre (MCC) in
Bihar could be considered at the same
level as the violence caused by the armed
opposition groups elsewhere in India. Yet,
the Central government and Bihar
government maintained double standards.
The Centre declared the MCC and PW as
“terrorist organisations” under section 18
of the Prevention of Terrorist Act, 2002
and under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act 2004. However, the
Ranvir Sena, private army of the
landlords, which has officially been
involved in 33 massacre cases claiming
34
over 280 lives, has not been banned. 5 Not
surprisingly, on 18 March 2004, Bhumiyar
youth in Gaya reportedly announced the
formation of yet another private army -
Tandav6 Sena to counter the MCC and
PW. 7
Extreme poverty and discrimination
especially in the administration of justice
accentuate the violations against the
Dalits. Like all things in Bihar, even
poverty alleviation programmes targeted
for the poorest Dalits only benefit the
upper castes. The prosecutions of the
culprits for the Laxmanpur Bathe
massacre of 1 and 2 December 1997,
Shanker Bigha massacre of 25 January
1999 and Narayanpur massacre of 10
February 1999 have been collapsing
simply because of the unwillingness of the
State to establish accountability.
The Dalit women were extremely
vulnerable especially to sexual abuse. In
July 2004, the upper castes had cut the hair
of Sumitra Devi, a Dalit widow of Jhapha
Udan village in Muzaffarpur district,
beaten her, stripped her and poured acid on
her private parts. 8
Prison conditions remained inhuman.
The conditions of about 55 prisoners
lodged in jails at Bhagalpur, Gaya and
Muzaffarpur who have been awarded
death sentence but not executed, were the
most pitiable. 9
Those who seek to change the status
quo are special targets of the criminals. On
24 January 2004, social activists, Sarita
Kumari and Mahesh Kant of Institute of
Research and Action were killed by the