On September 22, Friday, a video emerged on social media wherein the Bihar-based YouTuber Manish Kashyap, who has been languishing in jail for the last 6 months, could be seen lambasting the Bihar government for the mistreatment he was being subjected to by the jail authorities working at the behest of CM Nitish Kumar.
Infuriated by the arbitrary action he has been facing at the hands of the Bihar police, the Youtuber declared that no matter how hard the Bihar government tries to break him, he will not buckle under the pressure.
पटना कोर्ट में अचानक गुस्से से बौखला गए मनीष कश्यप, गुस्से में बहुत कुछ कह दिया! #manishkashyap pic.twitter.com/VWwUJzKUEF
— छपरा जिला 🇮🇳 (@ChapraZila) September 22, 2023
The video which has now gone viral on social media is from outside a court in Patna where he was produced yesterday (September 22, Thursday).
Bihar-based YouTuber Manish Kashyap was arrested in March this year in a case related to the ‘fake videos’ of attacks on Bihar migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. The YouTuber was slapped with the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and is currently housed in the Beur jail in Patna, Bihar.
In the video, Manish Kashyap appears to get emotional at first when he sees his mother, Madhu Devi, who is waiting outside the court to see her son. “Today, there are tears in my mother’s eyes,” the YouTuber tells the press, “but I promise, once I’m out of here, I will wipe the tears of lakhs of mothers.”
The Youtuber then throws an open challenge before the Bihar government saying, “I am the son of an armyman. My father and grandfather both served in the army. I will die but not bend before them. They have handcuffed an innocent person. I have reacted in the last 6 months but now I shall not keep quiet. I will get scared, won’t buckle under the pressure,” Manish Kashyap asserted.
Further targeting Bihar’s former CM and fodder scam convict Lalu Yadav, the Youtuber was seen shouting, “I am not the son of a fodder thief, my father and grandfather served the country. My grandfather fought against China, while my father battled against the Pakistani army. When they did not get scared, what made them think that I would get scared of these netas (leaders), that too in our independent country and the independent state of Bihar?
When questioned whether the Bihar government should take action against those who mistreated Bihari labourers in Tamil Nadu, Manish Kashyap fumed saying that ideally it should be done but does the Bihar police have the courage to act against them? he asked. If they do, let them arrest the accused, bring them here and put them behind bars, he exclaimed.
Further condemning the Bihar administration for its selective targeting, Manish Kashyap brought up the demolition of a bridge worth Rs 1700 crore in Bhagalpur and the death of a sub-inspector in Samastipur and questioned why the Nitish government had not taken action in these cases.
He also attacked Tejashwi Yadav, claiming that the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar publicly slanders other caste communities while batting for the Yadav caste, yet his mouth is always tied when people of the Yadav community fall prey to the caste-based killing in Bihar.
Drugs being smuggled into jail with help of police officials: Manish Kashyap lambasts Nitish Kumar govt for poor governance
Further, speaking on the difficulties he has been facing in Patna’s Beur jail where he has been housed, the YouTuber said that smuggling of narcotics and other contraband items into the jail in connivance with prison officials is passe in Bihar. He lamented how he has been kept with drug addicts inside the jail who purposely blow smoke on his face to harass him. “I get a headache,” Manish Kashyap lamented.
He added that most lower-ranking police officers in the state are honest in contrast to the ones with one or two stars are the ones who are most corrupt. Yet it is the junior officers who get suspended and the seniors steer clear of disciplinary action.
“Every parent in Bihar is worried today,” Manish Kashyap remarked. Further stressing the poor administration in the state of Bihar under the ruling government, Manish Kashyap pointed to the police vans standing outside the court and asserted how they were in all in terrible condition and urgently needed repairs. He stated that the one in which he was brought to the court had suddenly stopped on the road and that people had to physically push it because it was carrying almost 60 detainees.
Claiming that further FIRs will be filed against him in order to silence him, the YouTuber stated that while Bihar workers are being attacked and killed in TM, the Bihar government is remaining silent and instead utilizing its resources to suppress him.
Manish Kashyap further stated that no one is safe in Bihar now and that journalists’ lives are at risk. He asked President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transfer his case outside Bihar or Tamil Nadu because he wouldn’t get justice here. He claimed that the liquor ban had transformed the youth of Bihar into ‘ganjedis’ (adicts).
Mother of Manish Kashyap writes to President Murmu, questions the discrimination faced by her son
It may be recalled that recently, Madhu Devi, the mother of YouTuber Manish Kashyap wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu raising questions over the National Security Act (NSA) invoked against her son by the Tamil Nadu police for allegedly fueling tensions between two states while no such action taken against DMK leader and state minister Udhaynidhi Stalin who called for the “eradication of Sanatan Dharma”, posing an even greater threat to national security.
Manish Kashyap’s mother demanded that if the constitution is same for all then even Udhaynidhi Stalin should be booked under the NSA too. Moreover, she demanded that an independent committee formed by the Supreme Court should investigate the video of the migrant Bihari labourers.
Manish Kashyap’s arrest
Earlier this year, on 18 March, the Police arrested YouTuber Manish Kashyap aka Tripurari Kumar Tiwari from Bihar in connection with the alleged attacks on migrant workers in Tamil Nadu. A special team of the Tamil Nadu police brought him to the southern state on transit remand after the Madurai Crime Branch police registered a case against him.
Back then, it was reported that Kashyap had tweeted a ‘fake video’ of the attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu which went viral over social media. However, the video was created by the main accused Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, a native of Gopalganj district in rented accommodation in Patna. Later, the Tamil Nadu police slapped stringent NSA on Kashyap. He has been in jail since then despite moving bail petitions multiple times.
