PATNA: Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief and former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said on Friday that he has urged Governor Lalji Tandon to recommend President’s Rule in the state as the state government has failed to rein in spiralling incidents of crime and atrocities against Dalits.
"The crime situation in Bihar has clearly gone out of the hands of the government. More than 15 incidents of murder and rape are taking place in the state every day... I apprised the Governor of the sharp decline in law and order situation and also how the SC-ST Act is being flouted openly in the state. I urged him to recommend President’s Rule in Bihar,” said Manjhi to reporters. He had met Tandon on Thursday.
Attacking Chief Minister and JD(U) national president Nitish Kumar for organising his party’s Dalit-Mahadalit conference recently, Manjhi appealed to Bihar’s Dalits not to be swayed by his promises and assurances.
Kumar had said at JD(U)’s Dalit-Mahadalit conference in Patna on Wednesday that no power in the world could end or alter the provisions of reservation for the Scheduled Castes. “The Dalits should beware of such elements who try to entice them with false promises and spread lies with the help of fake data,” said Manjhi.
“While Bihar has two crore people of SC communities, only 40,000 SC students have got the facility of residential schooling in the state. In Andhra Pradesh, this number is 7.5 lakh and in Odisha it is 2.5 lakh,” said Manjhi, a prominent Dalit leader whose party is currently a part of the RJD-led Grand Alliance.
Manjhi also said more than 5,000 cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are currently pending in Bihar’s courts and that the conviction rate is as low as about three per cent, which is lowest in the country.
“The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government is clearly not doing enough for the welfare and empowerment of the SC communities in Bihar,” he said.