Minister8217;s torture chamber

Rabri Devi8217;s sacking of Lalit Yadav was peremptory but justified. The Rashtriya Janata Dal minister can defend himself in court when and if criminal charges are brought against him. At this stage it is important to strip him of his powers and curtail his capacity for further mischief, for tampering with evidence and intimidating witnesses. The allegations against the minister by his victims were recorded by television cameras and broadcast the previous night. Any one who heard the pitifully frail Dinanath Baitha and Karu Ram speak of being illegally confined and tortured in the minister8217;s house for a month, anyone who saw their injuries and bruises, would have a hard time discounting any of the charges. Furthermore, their release from the minister8217;s house by the Patna police confirms the basic fact that they were being held against their will. On the face of it, there was plenty of evidence to support Yadav8217;s dismissal from office. There is little he could say to exonerate himself. That did not, of course,prevent him from trying. In a scene typical of today8217;s political tamashas, Lalit Yadav called a Press conference to deny knowledge of any criminal acts and immediately thereafter absconded from the law. He is still to be found and charged by the police.

The chances of him being brought to justice are slim unless there is an unequivocal message from the top. Sacking him is only half the job done. Rabri Devi and Laloo Prasad Yadav8217;s motives so far have been exclusively political. Lalit Yadav is bad news for the RJD. Dalit anger, pressure from the Congress high command and the sound of the RJD8217;s enemies sharpening their knives all produced prompt action. The political act of distancing the party and government from Yadav having taken place, the Chief Minister will expect to escape the worst and feel nothing more needs to be done. But the Dinanath Baitha and Karu Ram case is not only about Bihari politics. It is necessary to pursue it to its logical conclusion which is the arrest and prosecution of Lalit Yadav and his accomplices. The law must be upheld and others deterred from abusing power. All the underlings who acted at the minister8217;s behest or stood passively by while the criminal acts were committed must learn that the law even in Bihar has awesomeauthority.

Lalit Yadav is one history sheeter whose political advancement has been arrested, temporarily at least. This is entirely fortuitous. Like others with criminal pasts in the RJD, not to mention other political parties, who thrive under the umbrellas of their parties, Yadav would probably have carried on for many years undisturbed. The system remains deeply corrupted by the criminal-political nexus. By making themselves indispensable to political leaders and because of their clout in their home districts, history sheeters commandeer tickets at elections and then cabinet berths. In power they go on to become a worse menace to society, and especially to the weak and powerless sections. Thanks only to the media and human rights activists8217; pursuit of the case, Lalit Yadav has been found out and stopped in his tracks. It remains to be seen whether anything durable will be learned from the suffering Dinanath Baitha and Karu Ram went through.