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India
oi-Gaurav Sharma
RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav was arrested by the police in Patna on Wednesday as his party’s protest against the alleged use of an AK-47 rifle during a student protest in Siwan turned into a major confrontation with the police
Tejashwi Yadav, who left his party’s protest rally near the Raj Bhavan after he was arrested, said RJD will persist with its agitation over students’ issues despite his arrest. RJD workers climbed on to the vehicle in which Mr. Yadav was taken into custody as police used water cannons to douse the protesters.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was arrested in Patna during a protest against the alleged police use of an AK-47 in Siwan on July 25, linking the incident to exam leaks and unemployment. Police used water cannons against demonstrators, and the constable filmed with the rifle has been suspended.
The RJD MP in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Misa Bharti, also participated in the procession which began from JP Golambar and saw a large turnout of party members and leaders. They raised slogans seeking answers to the question of why the state government had tolerated the police’s controversial handling of the July 25 student protest in Siwan.
The protest was staged after a video circulating on social media allegedly showed a police constable brandishing an AK-47 rifle during the July 25 protest in Siwan district. The RJD, in its official statement, alleged that the government had “indulged” in “anti-people activities” by “allowing security agencies to terrorize the people” in Siwan.
Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary was behind the order for water cannons to be used against the protesters. “But water cannons will not frighten the youths of Bihar,” he said. Samrat Choudhary has not responded to the chief of the RJD’s allegations.
Misa Bharti said the state government was “lying” when it denied using an AK-47 rifle in the Siwan protest. She said the state government had itself admitted before the Supreme Court that an AK-47 was used in the Siwan protest and questioned who gave instructions for the weapon to be used during the protest.
The RJD has tied in the Siwan incident with its larger agitation against the alleged “paper leaks” in various exams, unemployment, and the state’s “harassment” of students. “The anger of the youth is growing by the day as a result of the continuous leaks in examinations, as well as the lack of jobs,” said MP Manoj Jha.
Manoj Jha said the youth of Bihar are fed up with “the continuous humiliation” by authorities in connection with various examination malpractices. The July 25 protest was held in Siwan against an alleged NEET paper leak. The police had said that no one was hurt when the protest turned violent, adding that police personnel had been directed not to use force against the protesters in Siwan.
An investigation was initiated into the matter after the video of the alleged use of an AK-47 rifle by a police constable went viral. The constable has since been suspended. Mr. Yadav’s arrest has added fresh fuel to the protesters as the RJD seeks to make the Siwan episode a bigger issue.
