At least 20 of the 38 districts of Bihar witnessed violent protests by members of the 35 and odd non-political "Savarn" organisations which were supporting the bandh.
Large scale demonstrations and violent protests were witnessed, rail and road traffic was disrupted, a Parliamentarian was attacked and a cop received injuries in Bihar during the day-long Bharat Bandh called by multiple forward caste groups against the provisions of the amended SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Thursday.
At least 20 of the 38 districts of Bihar witnessed violent protests by members of the 35 and odd non-political "Savarn" organisations which were supporting the bandh. In Muzaffarpur, Member of Parliament from Madhepura, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav was attacked while he was on his way to Madhubani to commence "Nari Bachao Padyatra". "They abused me and would have killed me if my guards would not have been there with me, despite my telling them that I was not against them," Yadav said.
A teary-eyed Yadav told reporters, "The goons even asked the caste of those in my convoy and thrashed them in the name of Bharat Bandh. I dialled the SP, IG and CM, but no one picked my phone. Is there no law and order or governance in Bihar or are you sleeping like Kumbhkarna Chief Minister Nitish Kumar."
In Jehanabad, ASP Sanjeev Kumar sustained injuries when a demonstrating mob started pelting stones on his vehicle during the bandh. The cops had reached the town area to remove the road blockage by the protestors and clear traffic.
The anger of the forward caste groups against the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was witnessed in Patna, where they staged dharna before the state headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Beer Chand Patel Path. They burnt BJP flags and raised slogans against the government demanding rollback of the amendments in the SC/ST Act.
In several other districts, hundreds took to the streets to forcibly block national and state highways, halt trains and shut down market places, schools and colleges to make the bandh "effective". Among the affected districts were - Gaya, Begusarai, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Saran, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria, Madhubni, Bhojpur, Sitamarhi, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Siwan, Banka, Bhagalpur, and Nawada.
Additional forces had to be deployed at several places to keep the situation under control and the cops had to resort to mild cane charging at a few places to disperse "unruly crowd". While the ruling parties made no comment over the bandh, the Opposition in Bihar said the government should seriously look into their issue and the problems they are facing.
Markets, Schools Forcibly Shut
- In several other districts, hundreds took to the streets to forcibly block national and state highways, halt trains and shut down market places, schools and colleges to make the bandh “effective”
- The affected districts were — Gaya, Begusarai, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Samastipur, Saran, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur, Khagaria, Madhubni, Bhojpur, Sitamarhi, Lakhisarai and Nawada
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