Bihar’s politics almost reached the verge of acquiring communal dimensions on Thursday as the Opposition RJD accused deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP of trying to “become another Narendra Modi” with the brutal police firing that killed four poor Muslims in Forbesganj.
Even as the JD(U), Bihar’s bigger ruling ally, organised a minorities’ conference in Patna where party stalwart and chief minister Nitish Kumar stressed his coalition government’s commitments to preserve communal harmony for the state’s all-round progress, the RJD hit out at the JD(U) for “allowing the BJP to create a Gujarat-like situation in Bihar”.
“The Nitish Kumar government has given the BJP the licence to kill Muslims in Bihar. This government then protects the BJP after poor, innocent Muslims are savagely killed without a reason. Sushil Modi had visited Forbesganj two days before the massacre of Muslims, which was caused on his orders,” said RJD leader and former minister Shakil Ahmed Khan at a press conference.
Bihar’s JD(U)-BJP government, which enjoys power for the consecutive second term largely due to the credibility of Mr Kumar among the state’s minorities and dalits, has been under severe attack from all the Opposition parties, several Muslim organisations and prominent social activists due to the way four Muslims, including an infant and a pregnant women, were gunned down by policemen in Forbesganj on June 3.
“It is the BJP that has been the biggest gainer in Bihar since the beginning of this coalition government under Nitish Kumar. The BJP’s strength, seats and vote share have gone up. The RSS was allowed to hold its national executive meeting in Bihar. Sushil Kumar Modi is clearly trying to become another Narendra Modi,” said Mr Khan.