For the present, the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh has
bought peace with the family of the slain journalist, Jagendra Singh,
with a Rs.30 lakh compensation and the promise of government jobs for
his two sons.
It, however, remains open to question whether the
government will be able to keep its third promise of bringing the guilty
to book.
The doubts arise because while the policemen implicated
in the murder have been suspended - the time-honoured official ploy to
deflect attention - the prime accused, Minister of State for Backward
Classes Welfare Ram Murti Verma remains free.
The delay in
apprehending him is believed to be the ruling party's disinclination to
annoy the Kurmi community to which he belongs. In fact, the state's
Minister for Public Works Shivpal Singh Yadav lost no time to say that
Verma will not resign till the death was "thoroughly" investigated.
Since the Kurmis comprise nine percent of UP's population, they cannot
be ignored.
Now that the journalist's death is being described as
a case of self-immolation, the chances of the minister being put behind
bars have become even more remote. As a Samajwadi Party (SP) member
confessed, the forensic report which referred to the alleged suicide bid
means that the "exercise" of defending the minister has been completed.
Clearly, the law has not been allowed to take its own course.
This
episode typifies the breakdown of law and order in one of India's
largest states under a government in thrall to caste-based politics.
It
was Jagendra Singh's articles about the minister's alleged wrongdoings
which angered the latter and led to the journalist's horrifying death.
It was on the basis of his dying declaration that the policemen were
caught and a FIR was filed against the minister.
If Akhilesh
Yadav has acted after being inactive for nearly two weeks, the reason
perhaps is that the grisly incident has occurred at an awkward time for
the nascent Janata Parivar, a combine mainly of the parties of backward
castes of the Hindi belt.
Since its chief is SP supremo Mulayam
Singh Yadav, the opprobrium of the ghastly tragedy will fall not only on
the SP, long known for its association with hoods, but also on the
Parivar.
At a time when the latter's two important constituents -
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- are
gearing up to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bihar, the shock
and revulsion over the journalist's gruesome death cannot but undermine
the electoral position of the two parties to a considerable extent.
During
the polls, the backward caste angle will feature prominently in the
discourse on the horrific incident not only because all the important
players in the tragedy belong to the backward caste but also because
caste has always been a crucial element in the so-called cow belt.
As
parties dependent almost entirely on the support of the backward
castes, the Yadavs and Kurmis, the JD-U and the RJD cannot but be
discomfited by the unfolding developments in neighbouring UP which will
continue to be in the limelight in the foreseeable future since the
Supreme Court has decided to intervene. The Allahabad High Court is also
probing the tragedy.
In contrast to the unease in the JD-U and
RJD camps, the BJP's base among the upper castes, who make up a sizable
14 percent of Bihar's population, will be further strengthened since the
party is bound to play up the spectre of lawlessness in the
neighbouring state.
Fears in this regard have been further
accentuated by the arrest of a JD-U MLA, Anant Singh, on charges of
kidnapping and murder in Bihar.
The two incidents will revive
memories of the "jungle raj", in the words of the BJP and its former
ally, the JD-U, which prevailed in Bihar between 1990 and 2005 when the
RJD was in power. In that period, Bihar's main claim to fame was that
virtually its entire infrastructure - roads, bridges, power lines - fell
into disrepair as kidnappers roamed the land in search of victims who
would fetch large ransoms.
But burning alive a critic is in a
different category. It is closer to the activities of another notorious
politician of UP who is suspected of feeding those who earn his
displeasure to crocodiles in a pond in his estate.
UP's descent
can be contrasted with Bihar's brief regeneration under the government
of the JD-U and BJP between 2005 and 2013 when lawlessness was curbed
and the first steps towards development were taken.
After the
rupture between the two parties, however, it is back to square one where
the hopes for economic growth are concerned. Although Nitish Kumar has
become chief minister again after briefly stepping down to atone for the
JD-U's defeat in last year's general election, he is now too busy
propping up his fragile alliance with the RJD to focus on development.
He
will now have to dispel fears about the return of the jungle raj. But
the two incidents in UP and Bihar will make his task extremely
difficult.
(Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at [email protected])
