J P Shukla Lucknow
2007
Whenever the focus is on Uttar Pradesh's (UP) mindless law-and-order situation, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary Amar Singh are quick to claim that the situation is far better than that in most other states. The example that keeps coming up is Delhi, where, they claim, the crime rate is higher. And then they go on to advise Congress leaders to mind their own business.
What makes UP under SP rule distinct, however, is the utter fearlessness with which criminals and ganglords violate the law, and the calculated unwillingness of the law-enforcing authorities to bring them to book. This disinclination becomes particularly noticeable if the criminals happen to be political associates of the ruling party.
Recently, a notorious bandit, Kalua, raided Gadua village in Farrukhabad district and shot dead two people. He then ordered 32 others to lie down on the ground and drove a tractor over them, maiming them and fracturing their limbs. According to eyewitnesses, this gruesome action continued for four hours but the police were absent. Kalua escaped.
In another incident, Dadua, wanted by police in UP and Madhya Pradesh and carrying a reward of Rs 200,000, attended a temple opening ceremony in Narshinghpur village in Fatehpur district. He had generously donated funds for the construction of the temple and announced that he would personally perform the pran pratishtha (initiation) ceremony for the deity. Dadua reportedly came to the village in his car escorted by armed guards in two other vehicles. Those present at the ceremony confirmed that Dadua stayed till the ceremony's end, performed the ceremonial worship and inaugurating a bhandara (community kitchen).
He also made offerings to his family priest and received his blessings as the crowds raised the slogans chanted, "Jangal ke raja ki jai" (Long live the king of the forest). As Dadua retired to his forest hideout, the claimed repeatedly that reports of Dadua's participation in the temple ceremony were false. SP leaders in Chitrakoot say that Dadua has now become a supporter of their party. He had also put his weight behind the party campaign to ensure victory for the SP candidate in the previous Lok Sabha elections.
Dacoit Nirbhay Gujar is known to have said that SP leaders function as "shareholders" in the "industry of crime". He has also revealed the names of ministers to whom he had gifted gold and silver crowns.
So, it's no wonder that crime and political high-handedness go hand in hand in UP. Recently, in Lucknow, Kushal Tiwari, son of UP Handloom and Sericulture Minister, Hari Shanker Tiwari, smashed his car into that of the son of a High Court judge just to show that he was a privileged scion. As the judge's son fled to a nearby police station, Tiwari kept up the ramming in the presence of police personnel.
According to UP Congress Committee president, Salman Khursheed, the deterioration of law-and-order may have various reasons, the foremost being the inefficiency of the administration and its lack of resources to deal with criminals. But there is every evidence that the true culprit is the political patronage given to criminals. Criminals have been co-opted by the SP to serve its interests and have been provided pride of place in the party hierarchy. The more notorious a criminal, the more important he is: this, says Khursheed, has led to competition among criminals to outdo each other.
Certainly, instances of the SP patronising criminals for political gain are not rare on the ground. Amarmani Tripathi, a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) minister in Mayawati's government and prime accused in the Madhumita Shukla murder case, joined the SP after the change in government and has since been openly favoured by the government. Even when he was arrested, he wasn't short of all the luxuries of life. He is now on bail; the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has moved Supreme Court that he has kept himself busy threatening witnesses.
In another instance, SP Member of Parliament from Phulpur, Atiq Ahmed, was accused of murdering BSP legislator Raju Pal, whose body was then cremated without his family members being allowed to attend. Atiq Ahmed and his brother, both named as accused in the case, have been arrested. But since they happen to be "valuable political assets" of the ruling party, few feel that they will be brought to justice.
The BSP has demanded a CBI probe. Mayawati charges that the murder was part of a conspiracy hatched at the behest of the state government to eliminate a BSP legislator. Mulayam Singh Yadav has consistently refused to hand the investigation over to the CBI. Political murders have been rife in Uttar Pradesh under all regimes, including those of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the BSP, argue SP politicos. In most murders, they say, the motive is personal enmity, and it is wrong to give Raju Pal's murder a political angle.
UP BJP president, Kesri Nath Tripathi, who has demanded the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, says Raju Pal's murder was a natural corollary to the criminalisation of the state. According to crime figures compiled by his the BJP, more than 6,000 murders occurred in the state during SP rule.
Tripathi claims that district and police authorities have been given standing instructions to be "careful" while dealing with ruling party supporters. In many cases, such as the kidnapping of Dr Kartikeya Sharma in Allahabad, the police had found evidence of the direct involvement of SP activists. The police impounded a vehicle belonging to a local SP leader that was used in Sharma's murder. A prominent SP worker was also found to be involved in the murder of one of his own party leaders in Mau. But the police did not proceed against the culprits. Tripathi adds that SP activists and legislators have also launched a land-and-property grabbing drive in UP.
BSP leader Mayawati, fiery and verbally uncontrolled, has gone on record to saying that she would find her own "match" to handle known SP mafia dons. Her pronouncement led to politicians with criminal backgrounds flocking to her party. Rama Kant Yadav and Uma Kant Yadav, two unscrupulous brothers, are today both BSP MPs. D P Yadav, who was admitted to the BJP on the eve of the previous Lok Sabha elections but hastily expelled when the media raised the issue of his open criminality, is sitting comfortably in Mayawati's company.
Recently, the wife of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MP from Balrampur known both for his links with the underworld and his "infamous" record during the Ayodhya movement, joined the BSP. While allowing her entry into her party, Mayawati said that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh also wanted to join the BSP but that she asked him to wait a while.
The only difference between the SP and the BSP lies in the open patronage the state administration provides to criminals linked with the SP. With the influence of the Congress and the BJP on a decline, it seems inevitable that the SP and BSP will meet head on. The underworld has a good understanding of political realities and sees much good sense in joining ranks with the two leading contenders. The SP, being the ruling party, is obviously the first choice. Opposition parties describe the present regime as "jungle raj". It is an expression that has become hackneyed by overuse.
http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2007/11/1774
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