Open Jeeps, Fearless Criminals and Bullet Rains, Lawless Bihar rears its ugly head

For the development of a society, it is very important that order and peace are maintained by the state. Order brings peace. Peace brings business. Business means creation of wealth. Which ultimately multiply in overall development of a society. But, Bihar, the third largest populated state of India, has constantly failed to deliver any of the above-mentioned things. The nefarious syndicates of criminals, politicians and corrupt officials have stagnated the growth in the state. For some time, a political change in the form of Nitish Kumar had brought some hope. But, the return of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) with the alliance of Janta Dal United (JDU), has once again brought the old lawlessness back in the state of Bihar.

Lawlessness back in Bihar

After the reshuffle of parties in power, it was expected that violence would once again dominate the state. As expected, after a week of shooting incidents in Begusarai, Bihar, two more incidents of firing have been reported from the state.

The first incident of firing was reported from the capital of Bihar. In which, a fight between students of Patna University and locals resulted in indiscriminate firing leading to injury of six people. Reports suggest that students of Ambedkar hostel in Patna University engaged in minor scuffle with locals in Sultanganj. People engaged brought guns and several rounds firing was reported. In which, three people have sustained bullet injuries and over half a dozen people have been injured.

The second firing incident has been reported from the Hajipur town in Vaishali district, where bike-borne criminals resorted to indiscriminate firing. Media reports suggest that the firing occurred in the Madai Chowk area of the town.

SHO of the town, Shailendra Kumar briefing about the incident said, “we received information that someone on a motorcycle opened fire. We came to the spot and saw bullet shells. We are checking if their intention was to fire upon a target or randomly. Probe is on and CCTvs are being checked”.

Terming incident a trailer of Jungal Raj, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “After Begusarai shooting there was Bhagalpur and now Vaishali. Criminals have a green pass from the RJD-JDU government but if you demand a job from them, you get a lathi. This is because Jungle Raj is back in Bihar and criminals feel empowered as it is “apni sarkar” for them.”

Intent To Create an Atmosphere of Fear

It is pertinent to note that a similar incident was reported a week before from Bihar’s Begusarai district. On 13th September, 2022, two gunmen on bike went on a spree of firing on people along the 30-kilometer highway from Samastipur. In the incident, one person was killed and 11 were heavily injured. Without any fear, these criminals went rampant on people with indiscriminate firing, targeting shops in the area.

According to the police, four people – Keshav Kumar, Sumit Kumar, Youraj and Arjun Kumar, have been arrested and two more assaults are absconding. In the interrogation, these arrested criminals have revealed that their main motive behind the firing was to create an atmosphere of fear in the state.

These increasing incidents of firings are results of change in power structure in the state. Lalu-Rabri ruling from 1990 to 2005 in the state is called the Jungle Raj. Lalu Yadav created a syndicate of criminals in the state, in which the industry of murder, rape, dacoity, kidnapping and use to flourish. The nefarious nexus of politicians, criminals and officers created an atmosphere of fear in the state. The condition was so bad that hearing a case related to crime, Patna High Court had said, “There is no government in Bihar. Jungle Raj has been established in Bihar”.

However, after coming to power, Nitish Kumar brought some significant changes and law and order was improved to some extent.

Crimes	2004	2019	Decline Percentage
Kidnapping/Abduction	411	43	89%
Killings	3861	3138	18%
Dacoity	1297	391	69%
Sexual Harassment	1390	730	47%

These improvements resulted in bringing the state on the path of development. But the hope once again seems to be looming seeing the criminal incidents in the state. According to the Association for Democratic Reform, in the new alliance of JDU and RJD, 72% of the cabinet Ministers face criminal charges.

In the Bihar cabinet, RJD got 17 ministerial berths. Out of these, 88% of RJD Ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves. 65% of them have serious criminal cases against them. Further, 4 out of 11 Ministers from Janata Dal-United (JDU) quota have criminal cases levelled against them.

Read more:- Lalu ke Lal will eat the Jail’s Dal

When the people in power themselves are criminals, then thinking of a peaceful environment is a lame expectation. The rise of criminal incidents and lawlessness is proof that Bihar has once again been thrown under the bus. The complete disorder and anarchy would once again derail the process of growth.