CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya on August 17 visited Manihari Milki village in Dinara block of Rohtas district and met the family of 60-year-old labourer Chandreshwar Chaudhary, who was murdered on August 5 after demanding payment of wages withheld by landlord Ajit Tewari.
Chandreshwar Chaudhary had worked for the Tewari family for generations in conditions akin to bonded labour. His sons, Deepak and Prithvi, had stopped working for the Tewari family, following which the wages due to Chandreshwar for years of labour were withheld. Repeated demands for payment culminated in Chandreshwar being shot dead in the early hours of August 5. Ajit Tewari fled after dumping Chandreshwar’s body.
Another labourer, Kedar Chaudhary, who managed to escape, brought the news to the village. The killing triggered widespread anger among villagers and sustained protests, which eventually forced the administration to arrest Ajit Tewari from Ghazipur in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and recover Chandreshwar’s body.
CPI(ML) Liberation leaders have been visiting Milki Manihari repeatedly since August 5. Party MLA from Rohtas Comrade Arun Singh, former Dumraon MLA Comrade Ajit Singh, Rohtas District Secretary Comrade Jawaharlal Singh and senior district leader Comrade Ravishankar Ram have visited the village several times.
On August 17, Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya visited the village and the bereaved family as part of a central CPI(ML) Liberation team comprising veteran leader and former Ara MP Comrade Rameshwar Prasad, Ara MP Comrade Sudama Prasad, senior leader Comrade Amar, Samkalin Lokyudh editor Comrade Santosh Sahar, Comrade Arun Singh, Comrade Ajit Singh, Comrade Jawaharlal Singh and other party leaders.
The administration imposed prohibitory orders in the area and deployed a large police force to prevent the CPI(ML) from holding a scheduled protest meeting. Despite the gravity of the murder, neither the local administration nor the local NDA MLA or any other leader of the ruling NDA camp has visited the victim’s family so far.
Instead, the administration has arrested several villagers who protested against the killing and has named several others as accused. CPI(ML) Liberation condemned this attempt to criminalise the villagers while shielding the murder accused.
The party pointed out that Ajit Tewari is in violation of several laws, including those relating to land ceiling, prohibition and arms, apart from facing the most serious charge of murdering Chandreshwar Chaudhary and hiding his body. Yet the administration has displayed a clear bias in favour of the murder accused while subjecting the victim’s family, their neighbours and villagers to repression.
CPI(ML) Liberation General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya said the developments expose the deep nexus between feudal power, criminal elements and the police administration in Bihar. He said there is simmering anger among villagers against this brazen injustice and the feudal-criminal-police-administration nexus that continues to rule Bihar.
The CPI(ML) Liberation demanded justice for Chandreshwar Chaudhary, protection for his family and an immediate end to the persecution of villagers protesting against his murder. The party called for action against the murder accused and all those responsible for the crime and for an end to the feudal-criminal-police-administration nexus in Bihar.
