It seems Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has truly descended into utter lawlessness with Jungle Raj returning to haunt the state. After the communal violence of Bhagalpur and Aurangabad, the state witnessed another spate of communal violence targeting the Muslim community in Samastipur on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Hindutva militants attacked a local mosque in Rosada area of Samastipur before hoisting a saffron flag, said local residents. In the photos and video, now gone viral, local residents have also claimed that the right-wing goons even burnt part of the premises, used to impart religious educations. Many chapters of Quran were seen burnt with the pages from the Muslim Holy book strewn on the floor.
The incident took place on Tuesday during the idol immersion procession. Local SP, Deepak Ranjan was quoted as saying, “On Tuesday morning, people from a certain community gathered here to disturb the law and order. The police force arrived here as soon as we were informed about the incident.”
Ranjan said that his forces had not been able to find a saffron flag adding that they recovered a tricolour. He also said that one person had been arrested.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is being widely condemned for letting the state plunge into utter lawlessness. The ugly episode of Samastipur comes just days after the son of a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet was allowed to hold an armed procession and lead a mob chanting anti-Muslim slogans in Bhagalpur.
Arijit Shashwat, the son of union minister Ahswini Kumar Chaube, had dared the police to arrest despite there being a warrant from the court against him and seven others for inciting communal violence. Nitish Kumar, who fought elections in 2015 against the BJP and won, stunned everyone a year later, when he joined hands with the saffron party.