Bihar Assembly adjourned till lunch after ruckus over post Ram Navami violence

As the House assembled, on request of leader of the opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha, Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary allowed him to speak on the issue before taking up scheduled question hour.

Sinha said it was most unfortunate that incidents of violence took place in Sasaram, Bihar-Sharif and other parts of the state during Ramnavami festival.

It was surprising that violence erupted even after meetings of peace committees were held in areas where violent incidents took place, he pointed out.

Leader of the opposition said that disruptive elements pelted stones on Ramnavami procession which resulted in violent incidents in various parts of the state.

Instead of taking tough action against trouble mongers, the Grand Alliance government was indulged in minorities appeasement policy and protecting those responsible for inciting violence, he alleged.

"Due to vote bank politics, the government is not taking action against culprits and indulging in providing hospitality to minorities while the majority community is being humiliated," Sinha said adding that his party BJP always believed in respect to all religions but appeasement of minorities would not be tolerated at all.

It was strange that the District Magistrate of Rohtas had refused to accept the fact that prohibitory order of section 144 was imposed in Sasaram while officer-in-charge of the concerned police station had announced on mike in areas that prohibitory order had been enforced, he maintained.

Leader of the opposition said when bombs had exploded in Madarsa in Bakna and Nathnagar of Bhagalpur district earlier, the state administration had described it as bursting crackers.

"Why did not Bihar government ensure proper investigation of the case by National Investigation Agency (NIA)?" he asked.

Several other members of the House including those from the ruling alliance also expressed their views on the issue.

While the ruling alliance blamed RSS and Bajrang Dal for inciting violence, opposition members held the government responsible for its failures to take stern action against culprits due to appeasement of minorities.

When a request of the Speaker to opposition members to resume their seats, who had trooped into well to protest the violence in several parts of the state, failed to yield results, he adjourned proceedings of the House till lunch break.