'A cattle trader named Mohammad Jamal was beaten to death in a village in Katihar district of Bihar on November 12, in yet another case of mob lynching in the state. The murder has triggered protests by locals, but police are yet to arrest any accused in the case. In his early 40s, Jamal was a resident of Hajipur village under Katihar mufassil police station. Jamal and his younger brother, Mohammad Kamal, were on their way to a cattle bazaar, Kumaidpur Haat, on Tuesday when they were attacked by a mob—after the two refused to pay extortion demanded by them for carrying cattle...'
'...The rumour of a stone from a mosque damaging the arm of a Durga statue continued to circulate through the night, and the next morning thousands of people gathered for the Maa Kaali procession. They defied the district administration by insisting on taking the procession though prohibited routes passing through narrow lanes in areas where Muslim residents lived in large numbers, and by shouted frenzied poisonous slogans against Muslims. The crowd continued to swell, and many came armed with lathis, sticks, spears, iron pipes, axes and swords.
'A Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was arrested on Tuesday, October 29, in Bihar for posting a video on Facebook, where he questioned Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's ban on liquor and criticised him for his wrong policies, according to the police. Opposition RJD leader Sachin Kumar Choudhary was arrested in Madhubani district after his video criticising the CM had gone viral. Choudhury, who is the vice president of the district RJD unit, was arrested from his village by Madhubani Police IT cell in charge Shailesh Kumar.
'Communal clashes broke out at Jokaha of West Champaran following manoeuvred incitement by majoritarian antisocial elements. However, the arbitrary arrests, torture and indifference that followed the vicious cycle solely targeted minorities... NewsClick presents a ground report from the region. “As our procession entered the Mazar (mausoleum ground), stones began to be hurled at us …we didn’t know from where it was coming…the peaceful gathering turned into chaos…,” recalls Zumdin Miyan, 60, who has been booked for ‘rioting’ and similar offences.
'In yet another case of mob lynching in Bihar, three suspected cattle thieves were beaten to death in a village in Saran district in the early hours of Friday, July 19. Four suspected cattle thieves were allegedly caught by an angry mob in Pithori Nandlal village under Baniyapur police station in Saran when the victims were on their way in a pick up van to purchase cattle. While three of them were beaten to death, the fourth victim sustained serious injuries and is battling for his life in the government hospital.
'Thousands of people—students, workers and activists belonging to Dalit, OBC and Tribal organisations along with workers of opposition parties—took to the streets in Bihar on 5 March as part of the bandh (shutdown) against the BJP’s anti-Dalit and anti-Adivasi policies.
'Six days after two Muslim youths died in police custody allegedly following physical torture, eight policemen accused in this case are still absconding. Police claimed that raids were being conducted to arrest them. What has exposed the non-seriousness of the Bihar police is that no arrest warrant has been issued against the absconding policemen, who were suspended after there was a hue and cry demanding action against them...'
'A few months ago, on the initiative of the Bihar government, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) conducted a social audit of children homes in Bihar. The Koshish unit of TISS visited 110 children homes in 38 districts of Bihar and submitted the audit report to the Department of Social Welfare on April 27, 2018. Koshish mainly works on urban poverty. The team constituted eight members—five men and three women.
'...Google ‘Mehboob Alam of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)’ and you will only find one article about the criminal cases on him. The law is often used as a weapon by the state to corner political opponents and the raw count of statistics never seems to help differentiate between these false or trumped up cases and those that actual criminals accumulate. For instance, Medha Patkar of all people has nine criminal cases to her name. In one of Alam’s cases from 2010, a lifeless body was found on the tracks of Barsoi railway station that the authorities refused to pick up.
'The Bihar elections were closely followed by the world media, with most newspapers linking the result to a referendum-of-sorts on the Indian Prime Minister and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Meanwhile, the day the results were announced, “Modi Not Welcome To UK” was projected in larger-than-life dimensions on the walls of the UK Parliament, as a measure of protest against the Indian Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to the United Kingdom.
