Forbesganj(Araria), July 03: AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday did a Bhatta Parsaul in Bihar and visited Bhajanpur, a sleepy village in Araria district where four Muslims, including a pregnant woman and a 10-year-old, were killed in a police firing on June 3.
Rahul landed at the Chunapur defence aerodrome near Purnia and straightway drove to the house of Fatkan Ansari, whose 20-year-old son Mustafa was among the victims. With tears in his eyes, Mustafa’s elder brother Kapil Ansari narrated how his unarmed brother was shot and how a heartless policeman later stomped on him in full public view, leading to his death.
“Phikra na karein, muawaza milega (Don’t worry, you will get compensation),” the Congress youth icon told the Ansaris during his 15-minute interaction with them.
The four people died as the police opened fire to disperse a mob protesting the closure of the approach road to their village due to the construction of a starch factory. The factory of Auro Sundram International Private Ltd was coming up on the land of Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA). The state government has ordered a judicial probe into the incident.
Rahul also applied balm on the wounds of Rafique Ansari whose 10-month-old grandson Naushad was killed in the firing. He also walked to the home of Mohd Farooq Ansari whose pregnant wife Shahjabeen Khatoon was among the victims.
Clad in white kurta-pyjama and black slippers, the Amethi MP later went to the Bhajanpur Middle School where villagers had assembled under a tent on the school campus. Instead of addressing the crowd, he asked an old woman, Fuliya Khatoon, to narrate the sequence of events on the fateful day.
During his 50-minute visit to Bhajanpur, Rahul didn’t give much time to the factory employees who lined up on the route carrying placards that read, “Mr Gandhi, listen to us.” “I don’t have much time. E-mail us your grievances,” Rahul was quoted as having told them by one of the employees, Lalit Agrawal.
Giving their version of the protest that led to the police firing, the employees said they were taken aback when thousands of villagers, armed with lathis and other weapons, pounced on them. This despite the fact that a consensus had been reached on June 1 among the villagers, the factory owners and the BIADA officials on an alternate passage.
State Congress chief Mehboob Ali Qaiser, who accompanied Rahul in Bhajanpur, said his party demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to the bereaved families and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured.
—Source: TOI