After Belchi, Bishrampur. Also in Bihar. And once again, the chief minister, Mr. Karpoori Thakur, would have the nation believe that the killing of the Harijans and the burning of their huts in that hamlet have nothing to do with any incipient caste warfare or even caste antagonism in that utterly caste-ridden state and that this is wholly the result of hostility between two gangs of criminals. But what is the difference when the aggressive gang consists exclusively of the kurmis and the victims are all Harijans? The question is pertinent on two counts. First, it has been reported that on learning of the murder of Hira Kurmi, allegedly leader of one of the two gangs, 500 armed kurmis belonging to the neighbouring Kanyari village surrounded Bishrampur, set fire to the huts of the Harijans and killed at least three persons (the unofficial figures are much higher but these can be disregarded for the purpose of this argument). Surely most of the members of the attacking mob could not have been involved in the activities of the Hira gang. If they were, things are far worse in Bihar than one would wish to believe and call for more drastic remedies than one would wish to suggest at least at this stage. In the circumstances it will be a fair assumption that most of the 500 kurmis responded to the call for the attack on Bishrampur in the name of and for the sake of their caste. Secondly, the chief minister himself has not claimed that the attackers discriminated between members of the rival gang whom they held responsible, rightly or wrongly, for the murder of Hira Kurmi and the “innocent” villagers who are said to have fled in sheer terror. Thus on Mr. Thakur’s own showing caste antagonism and gang warfare have begun to reinforce each other in Bihar. But since invariably the victims are the poor Harijans, it is rather difficult to accept the gang warfare theory at its face value. If rival gangs are indeed clashing, some of non-harijans should also get killed. The murder of Hira Kurmi apart, there has so far been no report of armed harijans attacking, say, a predominantly kurmi village.
Irrespective of the accuracy or otherwise of Mr. Thakur’s charge against the previous government regarding the grant of gun licenses to a large number of undesirable persons, the Congress cannot escape its share of responsibility for the present state of affairs in Bihar. After all it has ruled the state for most of the time since 1947. As such Mr. Jagannath Mishra and his colleagues have little moral right to point an accusing finger at the Janata party and government. But that is not particularly relevant in the new context. The more pertinent point is that some of the so-called backward classes, who have done reasonably well under the Congress raj, feel freer under the present dispensation to oppress the Harijans and that the Harijans have more or less as a community shifted their allegiance to Mrs. Gandhi and her party. At least that is the widespread belief. And if the belief is justified, Mr. Thakur owes it to himself, his party, his state and, indeed, the whole country to face facts squarely and do all in his administration’s power to stop the rot. Given the caliber of the administration in that state, the growing power of the “backward” castes – the reservation of 26 per cent jobs for them in the government is one evidence of this new political reality in Bihar – and the powerlessness of the Harijans, he may not succeed. But he must at least try.
