Protests by MLAs and MLCs in Bihar Assembly Over Mob Lynchings

Patna: Bihar Assembly witnessed protests on Monday over mob lynching incidents in the state, as the opposition MLAs and MLCs disrupted the proceedings, demanding an explanation from the government and strict action against the perpetrators.  

Opposition members staged protests inside as well as outside the state Assembly with placards in their hands. They also shouted slogans. 

Soon after the Assembly sat for the day, opposition members demanded an adjournment motion to discuss mob lynching and demanded tough action against the accused. But the State Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary disallowed the adjournment motion saying opposition should raise this issue of mob lynching at the right time. 

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) MLAs Mahbub Alam and Sudama Prasad raised the issue of mob lynching incidents last week in the ongoing Monsoon session of Bihar Assembly and asked the government for a reply. 

Alam told NewsClick that last week, they had demanded that the Nitish Kumar-led government enact a law to check and control mob lynching in the state. 
"We had staged a protest against the mob lynching incidents in Bihar and across the country, but the government ignored our concern," he said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Bhai Virendar and Congress MLC Premchand Mishra also raised the issue in the House. “Mob lynching incidents are increasing and government has failed to keep a check on it,” Mishra said. 

Former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi said that the rule of law has failed in the state. “Where is sushashan or good governance? The poor people, minority and Dalits, are being targeted and lynched. Mob lynching incidents in the last few days have created an atmosphere of fear.” 

She was referring to three incidents of mob lynching in the state in the last three days. 

On June 19, in yet another case of mob lynching in Bihar, three suspected cattle thieves were beaten to death in a village in Saran district in the wee hours. 

Four suspected cattle thieves were allegedly caught by an angry mob in Pithori Nandlal village under Baniyapur police station in Saran when the victims were on their way in a pick-up van to purchase cattle. While three of them were beaten to death, the fourth victim sustained serious injuries and has been admitted in a government hospital.

The victims have been identified as Naushad Quraishi, Raju Nut and Videsh Nut.

However, Saran Superintendent of Police Hari Kishore Rai said that even though three suspected cattle thieves were beaten to death by some villagers, it was not a case of mob lynching. 

Family members of the victims, belonging to Paigambarpur and Kanhauli localities in Chapra, have refuted the police claim that three of them had gone to the village to steal cattle.

Till date, seven people have been arrested in the case. But Azad Quraishi, elder brother of victim Naushad, told NewsClick that local police had named some accused including a man who has died five years ago and a few others who are not the residents of the village. “Police have been trying to suppress the case by doing such things,” he said. 

In another incident on Friday itself, in neighbouring Vaishali district, a violent mob brutally beat to death one “robber” and seriously injured another person after their allegedly failed attempt to loot a Grahak Seva Kendra. The victim was identified as Arman. 

In the third incident on Sunday, in Supaul district, a mob beat to death a youth after he allegedly shot a girl dead in the village.

These mob lynching incidents have come as an embarrassment for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who claims to have brought 'sushasan' or good governance to Bihar. In the last six and a half months, over two dozen lynching incidents have been reported from the state. 

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