Bihar behind bars

We don8217;t want to prick the afterglow. Laloo Prasad Yadav is just back from a track two jamboree in Pakistan, where he was crowned Steal...

We don8217;t want to prick the afterglow. Laloo Prasad Yadav is just back from a track two jamboree in Pakistan, where he was crowned Stealer of the Show. But may we point out, again, that in the Republic of Bihar the emperor wears no clothes. The daily abductions for ransom are old hat, they continue apace. But in the last few days, another routine Bihar story has had a new outing in the headlines. Mohammad Shahabuddin, RJD MP, popular as 8216;8216;Shabu AK-478217;8217;, was on the run ever since the Bihar DGP ordered his arrest two weeks ago in a case of kidnapping with the intention to murder. Even as the police pursued him, in vain, he was regularly available to the media and we were treated to a free flow of quotable bombast from the absconding MP. He has surrendered now, promising to teach the DGP 8216;8216;a lesson8217;8217;. And to Laloo too. Should he discover the RJD chief was behind the law taking its course in the cases against him, Shahabuddin has promised to ruin the RJD.

It8217;s a sobering image for Independence Day. This is not the first time that Shahabuddin, who has 36 cases against him 8212; he8217;s been acquitted in 14 8212; and who is known to run a parallel administration in Siwan, goes to jail. It probably won8217;t be the last. Trips to jail have not inhibited his political career so far. Some would argue they have added a certain lustre. He has won two elections, to the assembly and to Lok Sabha, from inside jail. He cultivates a Robin Hood image and actively plays the minority card. In Bihar, he is seen to be crucial to the Muslim-Yadav vote-bank that explains Laloo8217;s sustained tryst with power. In fact, after the current turn of events, the political grapevine in Bihar is abuzz: Will this occasion an amendment in Laloo8217;s electoral strategy?

Shahabuddin, MP, represents a state determined to live out its worst stereotype. In Bihar, the outlaw rules while a demoralised police force watches helplessly. The high court pulls up the state government for giving a doctored report on the law and order situation in the state. It8217;s a state with two chief ministers, de facto and de jure, and no governance. Of course, Laloo and wife are not responsible for the whole decay. But here8217;s a daring Independence Day wish for Bihar: Its rulers could own up to their share of the rot, so that a new beginning can be made.