Title - Politicians bypass Pritam

The Bihar politicians’ silence over Silchar-based student Pritam Bhattacharjee’s murder earlier this month and their impromptu demonstrations following assassination of some powerful caste leaders in the past expose their double standards on loss of life under unfortunate circumstances.Pritam — a postgraduate in physics from Gauhati University — got down from Awadh Assam Express at Naugachia railway station on July 9 to chase his laptop thieves and disappeared. The police recovered his body near Kataria railway station, around 260km from here, on July 15. He was going to Delhi to take a PhD enrolment test.The police are yet to find any effective clue in the case. With the political leaders remaining silent on the issue, the cops do not appear to be under any pressure in the case.The same leaders were much vocal in similar unfortunate incidents, involving people having caste and political clout. After motorcycle-borne criminals gunned down Devendra Singh alias Chhotu Kushwaha on March 29 at Sonehathu panchayat in south Bihar’s Aurangabad district, the RJD and the CPI-ML (Liberation) cadres observed shutdown.Chhotu’s village became a proverbial rendezvous for the top state leaders, demanding CBI probe into the incident. The list of leaders included the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad and rebel JD(U) MP Upendra Kushwaha.

A senior IPS officer said on the condition of anonymity: “Chhotu’s killing was abominable and must be probed. But what drew the political leaders to make his murder a big issue was the fact that Chhotu belonged to the Kushwaha caste — crucial from the vote bank point of view.”

“The caste and clout of victims and assailants determine the direction of investigation in Bihar,” the officer, who has served in various capacities in the state, added.

The observation of the senior IPS officer belonging to another state appears apt in the context of the murder of the Ranvir Sena chief, Brahmeshwar Singh “Mukhiya”, on June 1 at Katira in Ara — the district headquarters of Bhojpur in central Bihar.

Brahmeshwar was a named accused in over 140 cases of massacre of Dalits. But the state BJP chief, C.P. Thakur, and chief minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet colleague Giriraj Singh described him as the modern day “Gandhi”. Sena supporters took Patna to ransom. The Nitish government immediately recommended a CBI inquiry into the case.

Like Chhotu’s village, Brahmeshwar’s ancestral hamlet also turned out to be the favoured destination of the top ruling party and Opposition leaders on the day of his shraddh (memorial service) because Brahmeshwar belonged to the powerful Bhumihar caste. “We have to take care of the sentiment of the people we are working for,” Giriraj told The Telegraph.

But neither Giriraj nor the leaders belonging to other political parties appeared interested in discussing Pritam. “His case reflects the insensitivity of the worst order in the state. I am afraid if the state leaders will raise the issue of his murder in the state legislature in the ensuing monsoon session from August 2,” said the secretary of Gandhi Sangrahalaya and Gandhian activist, Razi Ahmad.

While most political leaders displayed insensitivity in Pritam’s case, Nitish handled the issue with relative carefulness. “I have asked the Bihar director-general of police (DGP) to co-ordinate with his Assam counterpart and take the case to its logical conclusion. Pritam belonged to another state and so we are more sensitive to the episode,” Nitish said.

The chief minister has acted with what the police officers here describe as “caution and sensitivity” in the past also. He spoke to his Maharashtra counterpart when Rahul Raj, a Patna student, was killed in Mumbai in October 2008.

Pritam, unfortunately, seems to have few in the Assam’s corridor of power to take up his case. Assam chief minister Tarun Gagoi, according to Nitish, has so far not contacted the latter. The office of Bihar Governor Devanand Konwar — a native of Assam — confirmed that he has so far not taken any notice of Pritam’s death. Konwar was, however, prompt in demanding a report from the state government on the situation in the aftermath of Brahmeshwar’s killing.

Pritam’s uncles Ram Mohan Bhattacharjee and K.K. Purkayastha came here to meet Bihar DGP Abhayanand, who obliged them. The duo also visited Naugachia. But no political leader or social activist thought it wise to meet the victims’ relatives and sympathise.