Three CPI(ML) supporters were killed on February 21 in Pipra village of Chhoradano block of East Champaran by the gang of local feudal lord Mahendra Singh, supported by the local JD(U) MLA. The CPI(ML) has demanded the immediate arrest of landlord Harendra Singh and his goons, and investigation of the involvement of local JD(U) MLA Shyambihari Singh in this massacre. The Nitish Government has boosted the morale of feudal forces in the state, first by dismantling the Amir Das Commission meant to expose the Ranvir Sena’s political links and then by not taking any action in incidents of many massacres took place earlier in spite of High Court’s rulings in this regard.
Pirpa is witness to the valiant land struggle that took place in 1989 resulting in seizure and redistribution of 200 acres of ceiling surplus and math land. People have been tilling this land for nearly 20 years. The Land Reform Commission Chairperson D Bandopadhyay had also visited this area last year. Now these killings are meant only to displace the poor from their lands. This incident has once again exposed the hollowness of Nitish Kumar’s ‘rule of law’ and ‘Land Reforms Commission’.
The CPI(ML) legislative group raised strong protest inside the Bihar Assembly on February 22 against the massacre while a fact finding team was also sent to the spot of the massacre.
