The Bihar bandh, called by the Opposition parties to protest Muzaffarpur shelter home rape horror, had a mixed effect on Thursday, with rail and road traffic getting interrupted and schools, colleges and shops forced to shut down at several places across the state.
The bandh was called by six-party Left bloc and supported by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the main Opposition party in Bihar and its ally Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular. The Opposition demanded resignation of Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, Muzaffarpur MLA and Minister Suresh Sharma and Bihar Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma, whose husband Chandeshwar Verma's name had also cropped up during the probe.
Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav said he "will force CM Nitish Kumar to break his silence on the incident". "I will wake up his sleeping conscience and the mask that he is wearing. Even Bihar Governor has shot two letters to him on Muzaffarpur mass rape case, asking him to take strict action against high and mighty. Indirectly he has questioned CM's criminal silence on this horrendous 'Institutional Rape' case," he said. A source said the RJD is also planning to take the protests to Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the bandh supporters in Bihar stopped trains at several places including Sampark Kranti Express and Janaki Express in Darbhanga, Jan Shatabdi Express in Jehanabad affecting the Patna-Gaya route, Sealdah-Jainagar Express and Gangasagar Express in Madhubani, Dadar-Guwahati Express in Bhojpur and other trains in Samastipur, Nawada, Nalanda and Sheikhpura.
Normal life was hit in Muzaffarpur, the district where at least 34 girls were raped at a 'Balika Grih' and another 11 are missing from short stay 'Swadhar' home, as all national and state highways leading to the district had been blocked by the protestors. The shops and market places were closed and marches and demonstrations seeking justice for the victims was organised at major thoroughfares of the town.
In Patna, hundreds of members of All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA) and other organisations took out a march and blocked Dak Bungalow crossing, halting traffic for some time. They held both the state and central governments responsible for "exploitation of girls at such facilities" and demanded that the CBI probe should be monitored by court.
Blacklisted
Bihar health department on Thursday blacklisted 30 establishments run by NGO Sewa Sankalp and Vikas Samiti of Brajesh Thakur, the main accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case. These institutions worked with Bihar State AIDS Control Society and their funds have been stopped, a source said. The CBI team investigating the case has also taken hold of documents from the Bihar Social Welfare Department (SWD) after questioning its officials on Wednesday and Thursday while Patna high court has sought Thakur's case diary in the matter.
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