Patna, June 23: Nitish Kumar today drew a big and appreciable crowd of Muslims, apparently, to demonstrate his secular credential and counter his rivals’ efforts to sully his secular credentials in the wake of the police firing which left four people dead at a Forbesganj village, about 400km from here, on June 3.
The Congress, RJD and LJP used the incident to paint an “anti-Muslim” image of the Bihar chief minister, equating the latter with his Gujarat counterpart, Narendra Modi. Even some social groups and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt joined the Opposition in raising the issue of “atrocities on Muslims” in the NDA-ruled state.
Irked by the allegations, ostensibly aimed at hitting him where it hurts the most, the otherwise calm and composed chief minister demonstrated an offensive disposition, hitting back hard on the “elements” questioning the image that he has so assiduously built.
Without naming Mahesh Bhatt or his political rivals, Nitish said: “Jealous of the spirit of brotherhood in the JD(U)-BJP ruled state, some so-called activists, scholars and leaders are roaming around to question my credential and disturb the harmony. But I hardly need a certificate on my secularism from these elements.”
JD(U) MP Monazir Hasan put the records straighter: “People like Mahesh Bhatt, who have hardly done anything for the cause of the Muslims in Bihar, became party to the conspiracy to tarnish our CM’s image. It’s shameful.”
Nitish breathing fire on the “invaders” on his image, drew thunderous applause from the crowd comprising a large number of burqa (veil) clad women besides men. The 2,200-seat SK Memorial Hall — the venue of the event — was packed to capacity and almost an equal number of people had spilled on the premises outside the hall. The party’s minority cell had organised the function on the “Basic problems of the Muslims and their solution”.
Emboldened at the appreciation, the CM asked: “The Bhagalpur riots — the biggest ever in history — took place in 1989 when the Congress was in power. The RJD then ruled the state for 15 long years. What did they do for the riot victims other than hushing the cases against the culprits?”
“The first thing I did,” Nitish said: “after taking over in 2005 was to re-open the riot cases and getting the culprits convicted through speedy trial. Our government has been paying life pension of Rs 2,500 per month to the riot victims’ families — an amount equivalent to what the Centre is paying to families affected in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.”
In an obvious bid to rob his rivals of the opportunity to rope in the Muslims, using firing at Forbesganj, the CM announced: “All the taalimi marqazes (abode of poor Muslim boys to teach them free of cost) would be upgraded to hostels and the children would be provided with four meals a day from now on.” The applause rent the air again.
Then Nitish went on to enumerate the measures his government had initiated to uplift the Muslims and ensure their share in power. “We are very sensitive about your basic problems and security. The government has so far spent as much as Rs 300 crore in fencing over 2,600 graveyards,” Nitish said.
Work is in progress to fence all the 8,000 graveyards in the state. I have announced scholarship of Rs 10,000 to each Muslim student securing first division in matriculation exams. This year, 20,000 Muslim students have got first division going to become beneficiaries of this scheme against 2,600 in 2005.”
Coming back to the Forbesganj firing issue, Nitish said: “Make no mistake, I will work as swiftly against the culprits as I did in the Bhagalpur riot cases. Soon after the incident, I sent the home secretary, Amir Subhani, and additional director general (ADG), headquarters for on-the-spot assessment of the situation and constituted judicial commission. Wait for the inquiry report and see what I do.”
The CM exhorted the Muslims not be get carried by the “elements” trying to disturb the communal peace and sully the image of the state which of late has been gaining in confidence. His cabinet colleague, Shahid Ali Khan, besides Monazir, was on the dais.
It is worth recalling here that Monazir had turned rebel, fielding his wife on an RJD ticket from Munger in the 2010 Assembly polls. And the party’s disciplinary committee had recommended action against him besides Lallan Singh, Upendra Kushwaha and Mangani Lal Mandal. But the leadership took no action on Monazir. It was probably because Monazir is a Muslim — a community which has become Nitish’s new votebank.
