Bihar killings lead to uproar in RS
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, March 19 — For the fourth consecutive day, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting any Legislative business amid uproarious scenes and heated exchanges between the Opposition and members from the Treasury Benches, this time over the latest killings in Bihar.

The Chairman, Mr Krishan Kant, adjourned the House for a three-week recess to meet again on April 12 barely five minutes after the House reassembled at 12 noon following an earlier adjournment over the issue.

As soon as the House met for the day and passed a resolution condoling the death of its former member, Sardar Raghbir Singh Panjhazari, the BJP members raised the issue of last night’s massacre of 35 persons in the extremist-infested Jehanabad district of Bihar. On the other hand, members from the Opposition, specially those from the Congress, wanted a JPC inquiry into the allegations of corruption levelled by the dismissed former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat.

The members from both the BJP and the Opposition raised slogans over their demands. In the face of this slogan-shouting, the Chairman adjourned the House till noon as members did not even heed to his repeated request for listed papers to be tabled.

The BJP members charged the Congress with helping in the reinstatement of the Rabri Devi government in Bihar despite the prevailing law and order situation in the state. But the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal members countered their charges, leading to uproarious scenes.

Congress member Suresh Pachauri and other agitated party members, today, however, changed their strategy and wanted to discuss the killing of Delhi-based cartoonist Irfan Hussain. They demanded a CBI inquiry into it.

As BJP and Congress members continued shouting slogans, the Chairman adjourned the House till 12 noon. On the previous three days, the Congress members had forced an adjournment over the Bhagwat issue.

When the House reassembled at noon, similar scenes were repeated with agitated members from both sides in no mood to listen to the Chair’s request for order. The entire Opposition was on its feet even before the Chairman could take his chair and demanded not only a CBI inquiry into the killing of Irfan Hussain but also a JPC over the Bhagwat issue.

A number of Congress members were heard shouting, "We want JPC, we want JPC". Apparently, the demand was over the allegations levelled by the former Chief of Naval Staff.

On the previous days also, the demand was made for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to go into the sacking of Naval Chief Vishnu Bhagwat and his charges regarding defence-related corruption.

Within five minutes, Mr Krishan Kant adjourned the House for the day to meet again on April 12.

During the week, the House was scheduled to discuss the Railway Budget, the Union Budget for 1999-2000 and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Bill. However, due to the adjournments for the past four consecutive days none of the legislative business could be taken up.

The Rajya Sabha, which was originally scheduled to begin a three-week recess from today, extended its sitting by a day to complete the urgent pending legislative business.

More forces if necessary: Advani

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, March 19 (PTI, UNI) — The Centre would send more central forces, if necessary, to Bihar where 33 persons were killed by Maoist Communist Centre activists in Jehanabad district last night, Union Home Minister L.K. Advani said today.

The state government had already asked for more forces and the Home Ministry was in constant touch with the state government, Mr Advani told reporters here.

Asked if the Centre would once again recommend the dismissal of the Bihar Government, Mr Advani said, "that is not an issue which has to be discussed now. Let everyone concentrate on proper governance and protect the lives of people".

PATNA: Defence Minister George Fernandes on Friday ruled out the possibility of the Centre recommending reimposition of President’s rule in Bihar in the aftermath of the killing of 33 persons in Jehanabad district on Thursday.

"There is no point in again recommending central rule in Bihar as the Congress party will never support it in the Rajya Sabha where we lack a majority," Mr Fernandes, a member of the ministerial team rushed to Senari village, the site of the killing, by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee told reporters at the airport here.

Other members of the team are Railway Minister Nitish Kumar and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.

Railway Minister and senior Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar said the massacre by the outlawed MCC vindicated the Centre’s decision to impose President’s rule.

The ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar earlier in the day sent an SOS to the Prime Minister seeking more paramilitary forces.

Mr Yadav said Chief Minister Rabri Devi had sent three letters to the Centre after the revocation of President’s rule in the state seeking additional forces.

She said today the unfortunate incident was the fallout of enmity among rival extremist groups.

Acting Bihar Governor Mr Justice B.M. Lal expressed sorrow over the massacre.

The BJP today demanded that the extremism-affected areas in Bihar should be handed over to the Army.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday expressed shock over the massacre in Bihar and said political will needed to be created to end such killings in the state.

The Left parties have condemned the massacre in Jehanabad district and demanded an all-party meeting should be immediately convened by the Bihar Government to discuss measures for putting an end to the killings in the state.

Hands tied & throats slit: Carnage toll 33

SENARI, (Jehanabad), March 19 (PTI) — Heavily armed activists of the outlawed Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) scripted yet another gory chapter in the history of Jehanabad when they hacked to death 33 upper caste persons of this village in a retaliatory attack last night, just a day after the Rabri Devi government won a trust vote.

More than 1,000 MCC activists swooped down on the village just as the people were getting ready to go to sleep and dragged the male members out, took them to nearby fields in batches of three to four and slit their throats after tying their hands and feet.

Most of the victims were in the age group of 35-45 years.

Just after the mayhem that lasted nearly three hours, the attackers shouted slogans "MCC zindabad. We have avenged the Sankerbigha and Narainpur killings".

In all, 33 Dalits were killed by the outlawed Ranvir Sena, a private militia of landowners, in these two villages on January 25 and February 10, respectively, following which the Rabri Devi government was dismissed and the short-lived President’s rule imposed on Bihar.

The RJD government had blamed the recent spate of violence to the alleged patronage of the sena by BJP leaders, but yesterday’s killings by the anti-sena outfit is likely to cause acute embarrassment to the RJD government.

The MCC extremists diverted police attention from Senari by mounting an attack on the adjoining Saharsa police picket and engaging the security personnel in an over three-hour encounter as their comrades-in-arms carried out the massacre, Bihar Director-General of Police C.P. Sinha said at the carnage site.

Earlier, official reports had put the toll at 35, but certain villagers claimed that not less than 70 persons were done to death.

Six of the injured, including a pregnant woman, have been admitted to Magadh Medical College Hospital in Gaya, where the condition of four is stated to be serious.

Jehanabad District Magistrate Arunish Chowla told a visiting PTI correspondent here that more than 1,000 extremists, armed with sharp-edged weapons and rifles, raided the village under the Kapri police station even as the villagers were preparing to go to sleep.

After the mayhem, the attackers left behind a poster announcing they would avenge the Ranvir Sena killings with "interest".

Ten persons have so far been taken into custody as the authorities have sealed the district border and launched an intensive combing operation to apprehend the culprits.

Angry villagers refused to part with the bodies to allow the district administration to arrange cremation, demanding that the Prime Minister visit the place within 24 hours.

A group of people standing near the bodies raised anti-Congress slogans and criticised party chief Sonia Gandhi for the decision to vote against the statutory resolution for ratification of President’s rule in Bihar which led to the reinstatement of the Rabri Devi government.

The tragedy for the people here is that they still do not know the reason behind the attack. "We never had any conflict with anyone and used to maintain a cordial relationship with all sections of society," Ramji Sharma, a villager, said.

The extremists detonated dynamites to blow up the house of Virender Sharma, cashier of Magadh Gramin Bank’s Manikpur branch in Jehanabad who along with his nephew was killed.

Meanwhile, the local Congress MLA, Mr Jagdish Sharma, was today stoned by irate villagers when he tried to visit the incident site in Senari village.

The panic-stricken people took serious exception to anyone going to the site of the sudden attack, which had been described by the suspected MCC group as a retaliation to Laxmanpur Bathe, Shankerbigha and Narainpur incidents.

Slaughter rocks Bihar Assembly

PATNA, March 19 (PTI) — Last night’s killing of 33 persons in Jehanabad district of Bihar rocked the state Assembly today with an angry Opposition twice forcing adjournment of the House demanding resignation of the Rabri Devi government.

Hardly had the House assembled for the day when angry opposition members waving placards and chanting slogans trooped into the well of the House castigating the government for having "failed" to check violence in Jehanabad district.

They demanded resignation of the Rabri ministry owning moral responsibility for the carnage at Senari village where 33 upper caste members were butchered by the banned Maoist Communist Centre last night.

The Congress, whose stand on President’s rule led to the reinstatement of the Rabri government, joined hands with the BJP and the Left parties in seeking her resignation.

A number of agitated MLAs stood atop the Assembly reporters’ table. Sensing the mood of the members, the watch and ward staff threw a cordon round Speaker Deonarayan Yadav’s podium.

"I will hear your views... I am even prepared to admit the adjournment motions moved by the BJP, the Congress, the CPI and the CPI (ML)," Mr Yadav said in his bid to cool frayed tempers.

However, the Opposition MLAs were unrelenting and continued to shout slogans like "Hatyari sarkar istifa do" (the killer government resign) and "Lashon ki rajniti band karo" (stop the politics of corpses).

As the noise continued, the Speaker adjourned the House for 30 minutes, barely 10 minutes after it had assembled

When the House reassembled after the Speaker had a meeting with leaders of all parties, he announced that he had admitted the adjournment motions, but posted the debate on it for the post-lunch session as the House was scheduled to adjourn for lunch at 12.30 p.m.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Sushil Kumar Modi, demanded that the Chief Minister and RJD President Laloo Prasad Yadav visit the village to ensure that the government give a reply after it was fully prepared.

A number of opposition members supported his suggestion, while Congress leader in the House Ramashray Prasad Singh insisted the Chief Minister should resign first.

This triggered mud-slinging between the Congress and BJP members.

"Congress party sharm karo" (Congress shame shame) and "Advani-Vajpayee hai hai" (Advani-Vajpayee shame shame) shouted the rival members.

In the continuing din, the Speaker adjourned the House at 12 p.m. for lunch, 30 minutes before schedule.

UNI adds: The Bihar Legislative Council on Friday mourned the massacre of 33 persons in Jehanabad district and accepted an adjournment motion for discussion on the carnage.

State Legislative Council Chairman Jabir Hussain adjourned the House twice due to rumpus on the issue. As soon as the House reassembled after adjournment, the members paid homage by observing two-minute silence after the formal address of the Chairman.

The Upper House witnessed a heated exchange between the Congress and the BJP-Samata over fixing of date for a debate on the adjournment motion, brought by all opposition parties barring the rjd on the issue.