Ratnakar Tripathy: Terror on Patna roads: defending the right to oppress?
The naked display of terror on Patna roads and elsewhere in the aftermath of Barmeshwar Mukhiya’s murder has left the Patna citizens in a state of shock. And yet it remains true that such displays were not uncommon just eight years ago. It just goes to show how in the past several years, Bihar has enjoyed an exceptionally orderly phase and that it has made us all very smug and almost pretentiously genteel. So much so a massive tsunami of terror has just swept over Patna but no one is talking, explaining or trying to make sense, apart from the routine condemning of the incident. For the nth time in my life I think it is the ordinary cop on the road who knows what really happened and who the perpetrators were. How I wish to be the fly on the wall in the one of the dingy barracks where our Bihar police is housed.
But the TV footage on several channels made it clear that the original bereavers from Ara, the entire procession in fact, and its solemn mood was hijacked by a 250 strong crowd of utter lumpens on motorbikes carrying sticks and attacking everyone in their way. These men were an organized gang, energized by hashish and alcohol and made ready for the job. I am not sure but I am told they joined the main procession somewhere after Bihta.
And Patna passively took it from the invaders. Even the cops were briefed not to resist this monstrous tide, which in effect was actually an organized gang action the cops could have chased away in minutes. We all know there is something so utterly deceptive about visuals – the most engineered of actions looks like spontaneous outburst on the screen! So what are all the gentleman of Bihar up to in the aftermath of this terror attack? Any plans to recover from the stunned silence?
Gone are the days, we thought when the gentlest of Biharis had to keep the hoodlum within him ever ready, when faced with a deserving opponent. Foul language, direct physical action, or elaborate conspiracy to corner the enemy and beat him to pulp were the options debated. Never will I forget the moment when a close friend of mine sought my help in beating up a hostel mate during my B.A. in Banaras Hindu University in the mid-1970s.
‘Why?’ I asked him the logical question.
‘I don’t like him’ he said.
Ours is a culture also exaggeratedly polite when terms are friendly. So much so it is a bit like ball room dancing, too elaborate and too ornate for my liking. You can never tell when you have made a mistake. Not attending a wedding can create a lifelong enemy for you, and you won’t even know. But this is what violent cultures are like all over the world. A meeting in Afghanistan may begin with so much of polite addresses and humble gestures that you may be lulled into taking your finger off the trigger, which is when they will get you, if you please!...
http://www.bihardays.com/3bhr/terror-patna-roads-defending-oppress/#.T8x0TbA7jbE
Also see: Ranvir Sena chief’s murder: Violence on
And : Bihar rocked by violence after Ranvir Sena chief's murder
Hundreds of Singh's supporters indulged in violence and arson in Patna during the funeral procession. They set afire a police outpost, torched nearly two dozen vehicles, attacked police personnel and media personnel. Ironically, except for the Left Front, neither the ruling alliance of Janata Dal –United and the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party or the Congress have condemned the unprecedented violence and arson in Patna by Singh's supporters. Brahmeshwar Singh was killed by unidentified gunmen on Friday morning in Ara town in Bhojpur district, triggering violence by supporters of the Ranvir Sena, an outlawed upper caste private militia. Thousands of people joined the funeral procession that started in Ara. Once the procession entered Patna, they indulged in violence and arson. They pelted stones at vehicles of top police officials and also damaged vehicles of media personnel, said the officials.
"All the main roads in Patna were in control of Singh's supporters, who were plying on hundreds of motorcycles and carrying bamboo sticks and iron rods. They targeted people's vehicles, the police and public properties," a district official said. A police official, on the condition of anonymity, said that the state machinery surrendered before Singh's supporters as the police didn't even try to control the violence and arson."They attacked police officials, damaged public property, torched vehicles but the police took no action. It appears that the state government had decided to remain a mute spectator to the violence," said a police official. The unprecedented violence also exposed loopholes in Nitish Kumar's much publicised claims of good governance and establishment of rule of law in Bihar, said the official. "The administrative machinery was not visible on Saturday. Supporters of the slain Ranvir Sena chief took over Patna for hours," said Satyendra Yadav, a Left Front leader.
But the TV footage on several channels made it clear that the original bereavers from Ara, the entire procession in fact, and its solemn mood was hijacked by a 250 strong crowd of utter lumpens on motorbikes carrying sticks and attacking everyone in their way. These men were an organized gang, energized by hashish and alcohol and made ready for the job. I am not sure but I am told they joined the main procession somewhere after Bihta.
And Patna passively took it from the invaders. Even the cops were briefed not to resist this monstrous tide, which in effect was actually an organized gang action the cops could have chased away in minutes. We all know there is something so utterly deceptive about visuals – the most engineered of actions looks like spontaneous outburst on the screen! So what are all the gentleman of Bihar up to in the aftermath of this terror attack? Any plans to recover from the stunned silence?
Gone are the days, we thought when the gentlest of Biharis had to keep the hoodlum within him ever ready, when faced with a deserving opponent. Foul language, direct physical action, or elaborate conspiracy to corner the enemy and beat him to pulp were the options debated. Never will I forget the moment when a close friend of mine sought my help in beating up a hostel mate during my B.A. in Banaras Hindu University in the mid-1970s.
‘Why?’ I asked him the logical question.
‘I don’t like him’ he said.
Ours is a culture also exaggeratedly polite when terms are friendly. So much so it is a bit like ball room dancing, too elaborate and too ornate for my liking. You can never tell when you have made a mistake. Not attending a wedding can create a lifelong enemy for you, and you won’t even know. But this is what violent cultures are like all over the world. A meeting in Afghanistan may begin with so much of polite addresses and humble gestures that you may be lulled into taking your finger off the trigger, which is when they will get you, if you please!...
http://www.bihardays.com/3bhr/terror-patna-roads-defending-oppress/#.T8x0TbA7jbE
Also see: Ranvir Sena chief’s murder: Violence on
And : Bihar rocked by violence after Ranvir Sena chief's murder
Hundreds of Singh's supporters indulged in violence and arson in Patna during the funeral procession. They set afire a police outpost, torched nearly two dozen vehicles, attacked police personnel and media personnel. Ironically, except for the Left Front, neither the ruling alliance of Janata Dal –United and the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party or the Congress have condemned the unprecedented violence and arson in Patna by Singh's supporters. Brahmeshwar Singh was killed by unidentified gunmen on Friday morning in Ara town in Bhojpur district, triggering violence by supporters of the Ranvir Sena, an outlawed upper caste private militia. Thousands of people joined the funeral procession that started in Ara. Once the procession entered Patna, they indulged in violence and arson. They pelted stones at vehicles of top police officials and also damaged vehicles of media personnel, said the officials.
"All the main roads in Patna were in control of Singh's supporters, who were plying on hundreds of motorcycles and carrying bamboo sticks and iron rods. They targeted people's vehicles, the police and public properties," a district official said. A police official, on the condition of anonymity, said that the state machinery surrendered before Singh's supporters as the police didn't even try to control the violence and arson."They attacked police officials, damaged public property, torched vehicles but the police took no action. It appears that the state government had decided to remain a mute spectator to the violence," said a police official. The unprecedented violence also exposed loopholes in Nitish Kumar's much publicised claims of good governance and establishment of rule of law in Bihar, said the official. "The administrative machinery was not visible on Saturday. Supporters of the slain Ranvir Sena chief took over Patna for hours," said Satyendra Yadav, a Left Front leader.
