Opinion September 14, 1981, Forty Years Ago: Report on riots

The report of the three-member judicial commission headed by Jitendra Narain, former judge of the Patna High Court, which probed the April 1979 communal riots in Jamshedpur bristles with strident strictures against the RSS, top district officials and the Bihar Military Police (BMP). Set up on May 15, 979, when the Janata Party was in power, the commission submitted its report to the government on August 31. The two others who served on it are K Ghosh, former chairman of the Tripura Public Service Commission and S Q Rizvi, former IG of police, Bihar. The riot which rocked Jamshedpur on April 11 and 12 took a toll of 108 lives. Releasing the report, Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra said he would invite the attention of the Union government to the findings of the commission on the activities of the RSS, Jana Sangh (now BJP) and its labour wing, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

Warrants in Punjab

The police have been alerted all over Punjab to arrest Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale whose arrest warrant was obtained by the Ludhiana police from a local court under Section 134 of the IPC for his alleged abetment in the murder of Lala Jagat Narain. Warrants for the arrest of Bhinderanwale’s nephew Swaran Singh, and another accused, Dalbir Singh, have also been issued.

UP floods

Advertisement

Floodwaters of the Rapti entered Domariaganj town, in UP’s Basti district, when the river breached the Mali-Mannaiya bund. The irrigation authorities were making efforts to plug the breach. The Rapti was flowing above the danger mark by 30 cm at Balrampur, by 43 cm at Bansi and 20 cm at Gorakhpur. The floods have brought misery to people in over 1,000 villages in UP, particularly the state’s eastern part. The season’s fatalities in the state have gone up to 329.