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Bihar massacre jolts NDA base

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

Investigations into the killing of 12 Bhumihars in Afsar village of Nawada district are bringing out certain facts that forebode a bumpy ride for the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar. Apparently, the Kurmis were behind the attack, not Yadavs as believed.

It was the handiwork of a gang led by Kurmi gangster Ashok Mahto. Earlier, the Bhumihars had accused Mahto and P K Mandal, the local deputy superintendent of police, of masterminding the Afsar killings. Apparently, Mahto avenged the abduction and killing of three Kurmis by the Bhumihars. It has nothing to do with the Rajobigha massacre of six Yadavs on June 3 by Bhumihars.

This massacre is likely to have a far-reaching political ramifications as it will not only isolate the Bhumihars, as in Jehanabad and Bhojpur districts, but will bring about a sort of alliance between the Kurmis and the Yadavs.

The Kurmis and Yadavs have been at daggers drawn ever since the Samata Party was formed in 1994. It would be the first time since then that Kurmis and Bhumihars would be involved in such a bloody war of attrition. With the latter two forming the NDA's main support base, the alliance seems to be in for a tough balancing act.

Though there is no love lost between Kurmis, Yadavs, Koeris and Dalits in the Nawada-Nalanda-Patna belt of central Bihar, the fall-out of the latest massacre is that they have ganged up against Bhumihars. Bhumihar gangster Akhilesh Singh, whose wife Aruna Devi is an independent legislator, is being held responsible for this development. In his bid to restore the dominance of Bhumihars, he has only created more enemies.

Unlike earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav opted against going to Afsar. The reason was simple. When he had visited Bara (1992) and Senari (1999), sites of Bhumihar massacres, people hooted and booed him.

After such incidents, the Bhumihars resort to large-scale violence and disrupt traffic. They rough up political leaders, of any party and any caste, and manhandle newspersons who visit the site of the massacre. In Senari, a couple of photographers were locked in a dark dingy room for hours.

Neither Harijans nor the other backwards ever resort to such tactics. On Monday, they torched railway coaches and blocked roads.

EARLIER STORY
15 killed in Bihar caste violence

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