Law and disorder

The Chief Ministers of Bihar and U.P. are forced to act against colleagues to prove their commitment to tackle criminals in politics.

Nitish Kumar, Chief

ONE of the major factors that propelled the Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in Bihar and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh to power was the publics dissatisfaction with the law and order situation.

The popular feeling was that the governments in both the States at the time of the Assembly elections the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (S.P.) Ministry in U.P. and the Rabri Devi-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Ministry in Bihar had failed to control crime and provide safety and security to ordinary citizens.

The involvement of several leaders of the S.P. and the RJD such as Amarmani Tripathi, a Minister in U.P., and Mohammed Shahabuddin, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar in incidents of crime created the impression that criminals had government patronage. The JD(U)-BJP alliance and the BSP played on this sentiment in their political campaigns. When they came to power, Mayawati and Nitish Kumar vowed to change this negative state of affairs and initiated administrative-legislative measures towards this.

Mayawati, Chief Minister

However, recent developments in U.P. and Bihar have put the two Chief Ministers and their governments at the receiving end of a hostile public debate. Central to the debate is the involvement of BSP and JD(U) leaders in grave criminal cases, which have attracted considerable media and popular attention. Moreover, there is a growing perception that the governments are not able to ensure the safety and security of ordinary citizens. In U.P., one of the most widely debated issues now relates to the kidnapping charges against Anand Sen Yadav, a Minister of State in the Mayawati government. In Bihar, the assault on mediapersons by JD(U) legislator Anant Singh when he was queried about the criminal cases against him forms the core point of the anti-government discourse.

The debate on the cases against Anand Sen Yadav and Anant Singh had an emotive appeal on account of a number of factors. Sexual exploitation and the probable physical elimination of the victim had come up as part of the public discourse in the Anand Sen Yadav case. The principal allegation against Anand Sen Yadav is that he was instrumental in kidnapping a Dalit girl named Sashi, who belonged to his home district of Faizabad. The allegation was first raised by the girls father, Yogendra Prasad. The girl has been missing from home since October 22, and her father suspected the involvement of the Minister, who was once close to his family. Prasad complained that he had tried to get a first information report (FIR) registered with regard to the disappearance of his daughter, but there was no action from the police machinery, ostensibly on account of the influence of Anand Sen Yadav. Later, Prasads complaint was taken up by Opposition leaders, including former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who alleged that Anand Sen had physical relations with the girl and got her pregnant. The S.P. leadership argued that Sashis disappearance was essentially linked to her relationship with Anand Sen Yadav. In popular perception, the case had great similarity with the Amarmani Tripathi-Madhumita case during S.P. rule. Madhumita was killed to cover up an unwanted pregnancy. Both Amarmani Tripathi and his wife were convicted in that case. The allegations against Anand Sen Yadav gave the S.P. an opportunity to hit back.

The case had its echo in the State Assembly and Mayawati was compelled to seek, on November 6, Anand Sen Yadavs resignation and initiate an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the allegations against him. The fact that there were several other cases against Anand Sen Yadav added to the Chief Ministers discomfiture. Incidentally, Anand Sen Yadav was in jail on May 13, the day the Mayawati government was sworn in, in connection with an assault case. He was sworn in later at a separate function.

Janata Dal (United)

Anant Singh, the Bihar legislator, and his supporters attacked journalists on two occasions on November 1. First, two journalists NDTV correspondent Prakash Singh and cameraman Habib Ali were assaulted when they went to seek some clarifications from the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Later, a whole group of mediapersons were attacked when they went to Anant Singhs house to protest against the earlier assault. The legislator has over two dozen criminal cases against him, including cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion and dacoity. Recently, there were allegations about his involvement in the rape of a young woman, and the television crew had gone to seek his reaction to these. This girl has gone missing since the allegations were raised against Anant Singh.

The assault on the mediapersons brought the sexual exploitation aspect of the charges against Anant Singh to the fore and this contributed to the intense popular reaction. The MLA was considered to be close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar by sections of the political class in Bihar. The Opposition RJD, led by Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, highlighted this aspect in their reactions. They demanded that the Minister and his henchmen be arrested immediately. Nitish Kumar succumbed to the demand without much resistance and had the MLA and his henchmen arrested.

Ironically, the antagonistic public debate erupted when the two Chief Ministers were making proclamations about grand plans to counter criminal influence in society. Hardly a week before Mayawati removed Anand Sen Yadav from her Ministry, she had unravelled a new piece of legislation to control organised crime syndicates in the State. The Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Bill was presented as a comprehensive piece of legislation to act against land mafia, contract killers, extortionists, kidnappers, hawala traders, money launderers, producers of spurious drugs and illicit liquor, and drug peddlers. Those displaying firearms at public places would also be booked under the law.

Anand Sen Yadav,

The Bill envisages stringent punishment, including death sentence and life imprisonment as well as fines in the range of Rs.10 lakh. It also has a provision denying police security to those booked under criminal cases, which would affect Ministers and legislators such as Anand Sen Yadav. The Bill was passed by the Lower House of the State legislature and is pending clearance from the Legislative Council, the Upper House.

Similarly, the Bihar Home Department and the police machinery have drawn up specific plans to move against politicians with criminal charges against them. The plan is to be pushed ahead on the eve of the second anniversary of the Nitish Kumar government. According to a senior State government official, the conviction of the RJDs Bahubali (muscleman) MP Mohammad Shahabuddin in the case relating to the abduction of a Communist Party of India (Marxist- Leninist) activist was perceived as a major breakthrough, and this motivated the Home Department to draw up a list of politicians with criminal cases against them. Those identified in the list apparently included 21 top politicians. The government also plans to set up special courts to conduct speedy trials in cases involving high-profile people, including politicians.

It remains to be seen how far the Anant Singh case will influence the government move in this direction. One stream of opinion within the Bihar government, especially the bureaucracy, is that the Chief Minister would impart greater speed to this initiative, especially because he would want to wash off the negative publicity generated by the Anant Singh episode. But, at the political level, there is the view, especially among the RJD leadership, that all these initiatives are eyewash. According to them, the Anant Singh episode has shown that ruling party leaders can take the law into their own hands. Speaking to Frontline, RJD leader Ram Kripal Yadav said that the Anant Singh episode was preceded by incidents such as the one at Vaishali where 10 suspected thieves were lynched by a crowd. All these point towards a sense of lawlessness, he said. Sections of the government, particularly officials considered close to the Chief Minister, state that this misconception would be cleared by the last week of November or latest by early December when the government moves forcefully against politicians with criminal records.

While officials in Bihar talk about imminent action to counter the negative publicity on the law and order front, no such promise is being held out in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP leadership seems to be under the firm belief that it can overcome all the negative publicity on the strength of its political backing at the grass roots from the Dalit and Brahmin communities. In the meantime, the fact remains that the clout of criminals and criminal politicians is still a major factor of life in both States.

According to the Lucknow-based political analyst Indra Bhushan Singh, this is a problem that cannot be wished away, especially on account of the dependence of even mainstream political parties on money and muscle power. Until the political leadership of all parties decide to give up the pursuit of power using money and muscle power, the problem will persist in one form or the other, he pointed out.