Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav called a bandh in Bihar on December 21 against the Citizenship Amendment Act. “In protest against CAA and NRC, the RJD will be leading a Bihar bandh on December 21. On the eve of it, the party carried a torch rally in all districts to give a call for a peaceful protest”, Tejashwi tweeted on Friday. But the protests were far from peaceful, and reports of violence by protesters are emerging from the state.
Among all these, in a video which is going viral on social media, one RJD leader is seen vandalising an auto-rickshaw just seconds after claiming that protests are peaceful. In the video, an ABP reporter approaches the RJD leader and questions him about the violence which his party workers had resorted to during the ‘peaceful’ bandh called by the party.
The leader tries to convince the reporter that the party workers at no point during the bandh resorted to any sought of violence and that the entire process was being carried out as peacefully as promised by their supremo. When he was asked about auto-rickshaws being attacked by RJD workers during the bandh, he was dismissing them but then the video suddenly takes an unprecedented twist.
While talking to the reporter about how peaceful their protests were, the RJD leader spots an auto-rickshaw on the road, presumably defying the bandh. Seeing this, he suddenly runs towards the vehicle, leaving the interview, he has a stick in his right hand, and an RJD flag on the left hand. Several other party workers charge towards the vehicle along with him, chanting ‘maar maar maar’. The politician who was, a second ago, assuring the reporter that his party workers have not been using muscle power to enforce the bandh, reaches the auto and starts attacking its front side with the stick he was carrying. After him, his party workers also join him in vandalising the auto-rickshaw, with the driver still sitting on the driver’s seat.
Didn’t expect that twist in the end ?
— Scar (@RAC7R) December 21, 2019
Following the call of Bihar bandh, against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), party supporters blocked highways at Darbhanga and Vaishali here on Saturday.
At Darbhanga, RJD workers and supporters protested bare chest, sloganeering against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and central government. While party supporters protested at the railway line and disrupted train movement, they blocked the highway by burning tyres. At Vaishali, the highway was blocked by the RJD workers with the help of buffaloes.
The biggest incident occurred in Patna, where fierce stone-pelting took place during a clash between two groups. During this brawl, 11 people were sho, whereas, one was stabbed. Two dozen people, including half a dozen policemen, were injured in the stone-pelting incident. Several media person also fell prey to the hooliganism. Dainik Jagran’s cinematographer, Kumar Dinesh, was also injured in the ensuing.
In Aurangabad too, several policemen, including the SDPO were injured. Protests in places like Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Nawada also turned violent which compelled the police personnel to use tear gas shells to compel the crowd.
Phulwarisharif in Patna also turned into a war zone leaving 13 people injured in an incident of indiscriminate stone-pelting and violence by anti-CAA rioters. While 8 injured were admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), two were taken to the Patna Medical Colleges and Hospitals (PMCH) and one was rushed to a private hospital. One person was also reportedly stabbed during the ruckus.
Six police personnel have also been reported injured due to the stone-pelting. They are being treated in local hospitals. DM Kumar Ravi said that Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been implemented in Phulwarisharif, Patna.
Meanwhile, in Bhagalpur, RJD district president Tirupati Nath Yadav was himself seen vandalizing several vehicles.
The Left parties, supported by mahagathbandhan allies barring the RJD, too had observed a Bihar bandh on Thursday.
