Patna, Sep 24: Jan Suraaj founder and Bankipur MLA Prashant Kishor on Thursday criticised the Bihar government over the recent molestation incident in Samastipur and questioned its approach to law and order.
Kishor argued that punitive action after a crime, including encounters or shootings, would not by itself prevent such incidents. He said the state government should focus on preventing crimes rather than relying solely on action after they occur.
“No matter what action you take after a crime is committed, it won’t stop crime. Whether you open fire or hang people, the situation here is horrific,” Kishor said.
He alleged that the government had failed to establish effective control over the police administration and questioned the absence of a full-time Director General of Police (DGP).
Kishor also alleged that police personnel were spending considerable time dealing with the liquor and sand mafias instead of focusing on law and order. These were his allegations and were not independently verified.
“The head of the state believes that encounters and shootings can bring order to Bihar, but that hasn’t happened yet,” he said.
The Jan Suraaj leader also criticised ministers Ashok Choudhary and Dilip Jaiswal over their response to the incident and rejected comparisons with incidents in the US and the UK.
“Where in America and England does an incident like the one in Jamui happen? Ashok Chaudhary is an all-party leader. Ask him to show us the video footage from there, where it happens,” Kishor said.
The remarks came amid continuing political debate over recent incidents involving minors in Bihar, including the Samastipur case reported on September 15.
Kishor also commented on the Election Commission, referring to a recent Indian Express investigation which reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections at least 14 times over 10 months regarding decisions taken by the poll panel.
“The Election Commission’s credibility has been at stake for the past several years,” Kishor said.
The Election Commission, however, has said that its decisions, including those related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), had the approval of all three commissioners and were unanimous.
Kishor also appealed to voters to support Jan Suraaj in the graduate elections, saying that doing so would help continue what he described as the “story of change in Bihar”.
