BIHAR MASSACRE

Paying with their lives

Dispute over wages led to the Barki Kharwan carnage,
but the role of the police triggers suspicion


Murder most foul: Bodies of children and women of Barki Kharwan
A pall of gloom hangs over Barki Karwan village in Bhojpur district of Bihar. Women sit amid broken bangles, lumps of human flesh, their eyes filled with fear. Fighting back the tears, they search for words to describe the tragedy that struck them on the afternoon of June 11. On that day 20 villagers were mown down by a group owing allegiance to the outlawed Ranbir Sena of the Bhumihars.
When the killers struck, the villagers, most of them Harijans, were busy preparing for Savan, the festive season. The men folk were away in the fields, when the 500-odd Sena activists surrounded the village and opened fire. Many of the victims were women and children; even pregnant women were raped and butchered. The killers were no strangers to the villagers. Most of them belonged to the nearby villages of Guizarpur, Ekwari, Narhi and Chhoti Kharwan. With nobody to stop the marauders, the reign of terror lasted more than an hour. The three police pickets, around the village, were nowhere in sight as the murderers escaped after spewing death and mayhem.
The failure of the police came in for sharp criticism. The villagers believe that the police were hand-in-glove with the killers. The fact that the bullets recovered from the scene resembled the ones used by the police, strengthened the villagers’ argument. Even District Magistrate Gorelal Yadav was surprised that the police were ignorant of the incident even after the firing continued unabated for almost an hour.
Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta, who visited the village, pulled up the police calling the force undisciplined, ill-trained and totally incapable of dealing with difficult situations. Spurred by the criticism, the police launched an intensive combing operation in the area which led to the arrest of 24 Sena activists. A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from Sena hideouts besides police caps and belts. According to S.S. Pradhan, superintendent of police of Bhojpur, 18 policemen have been suspended following the massacre.
Though the administration woke up to its task rather late in the day, it is now maintaining a constant vigil to avert further incidents. The tragedy, many believe, could have been averted had the government and the police acted in time. Trouble had been brewing in the district for more than two years, thanks to the war of attrition between the Ranbir Sena and the CPI(ML) Liberation, which had found a foothold in the area. After shootouts on July 3 and 8, the CPI(ML) leadership had requested the district magistrate to come to the village and take stock of the situation. Although the DM did visit the village on July 10, it did not prevent the Sena from striking the very next day. The attack was well-planned: Sena held a meeting at Katira Mullah in Arrah to chalk out the details. Ironically, on the same day, the SP and DM had held their first peace meeting in Katira with both groups.
The immediate provocation for the murderous attack was a dispute between the landed and the landless of the area on the question of wages. A settlement was reached--Rs 20 a day as minimum wages--which was not to the liking of the Bhumihars. They took it as an affront to their prestige and decided to teach the labourers a lesson.
Perhaps Indrajit Gupta hit the bull’s-eye when he said Bhojpur’s is a socio-economic problem rather than merely a law and order issue. "Both the state and the Centre will have to sit together and formulate a strategy to deal with such problems," he said. Local MP and Union minister Chandradeo Prasad Yadav had tried to douse the fire that has consumed at least 69 lives in the last two years, by holding parleys with the two sides. He had promised not to rest until an amicable settlement was reached. The latest upsurge in violence has blown that promise to bits just as it has the lives of the 20 people of Barki Kharwan.
--KANHAIAH BHELARI
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