Goons have torched the houses of almost 15 Dalit families in Malikpur village in Bihar’s Raghopur. Raghopur is in Vaishali district in Bihar and is the constituency of RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav’s son, Tejaswi Yadav. According to reports, on Monday, some goons torched houses of Dalits in the village after a land dispute. The fire reportedly engulfed 15 houses and some shops too.
The Dalit family are now reportedly homeless and they have not been offered any help or respite from the government. Properties of almost Rs 10 lakh have been destroyed in the fire and the houses were all owned by Dalits. Raghopur is reportedly a Yadav dominated region and atrocities on Dalits by politically powerful Yadavs have long been reported from this area.
Reports coming from Yadav pocket borough Raghopur which happens to be the constituency of our leader of opposition Sh. @yadavtejashwi is disturbing. Caste war brewing between Yadavs and Dalits. Thousands of Yadavs reportedly burnt homes belonging to people from Dalit samaj. pic.twitter.com/34sVqCt4xt
— Guru Prakash (@Guruprakash88) May 30, 2018
The Dalits affected by the incident have claimed that they are being harassed and targetted by Yadavs and even the district administration and political leaders are not doing anything about it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6YXLfpH15M]
After the news was reported in the media, JD(U) leader Ashok Choudhary reportedly reached Raghopur to take a cognisance of the situation under the orders of CM Nitish Kumar. He has met the victim families and has reportedly promised all possible help from the state government.
While the local RJD and JD(U) leaders have been busy in allegations and counter allegations on each other for politicising the matter, many are reportedly questioning Tejaswi Yadav‘s conspicuous silence on the issue. He has always been very vocal about Dalit issues and has time and again targetted the central government for being anti-Dalit. Yadav even held a celebratory event after yesterday’s RJD victory in Jokihat polls but he reportedly avoided giving specific answers on the Raghopur violence issue.
