Don’t politicize crime in UP

Of late, certain political leaders and some sections of the media have been commenting adversely about the state of governance and the criminalisation of politics in Uttar Pradesh. While I agree with the concerns raised about criminalisation of politics, it is preposterous to see these politicians, who themselves had tacitly promoted the cult of desperadoes, blaming the Uttar Pradesh Government for all the ills that plague the State and launching protest rallies.

I am not trying to justify the lawlessness fostered by gun-toting gang lords. But I do wish to assert that the present moment calls for the political class to forge a consensus in the interest of Uttar Pradesh rather than indulge in browbeating tactics.

The writing on the wall is clear to all. Can one shy away from the fact that Nirbhay Pal Sharma, a BJP MLA, who was the brother-in-law of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, was gunned down in the most gruesome manner? His murderers came to his house and were knocking on his door for three hours while he was desperately trying to contact the local Superintendent of Police and local law enforcement authorities. He was killed as nobody responded to his SOS.

His death evoked no response, nor was any Nyay Yatra launched by the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Rajnath Singh. So was the case of Brahma Dutt Dwidedi, a BJP legislator who was killed in 1997 and in which a senior BJP leader’s hand was suspected. Yet, no action was taken and investigations were kept under wraps.

Late last year, BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai was gunned down in Ghazipur, allegedly by killers deployed by his rival, Mokhtar Ansari. In other words, it was a gang fight between a BJP MLA and an Independent MLA. Krishnanand Rai was said to be close to the gang led by Brajesh Singh whose brother, Chulbul Singh, happens to be a handpicked man of Mr Rajnath Singh. Under these circumstances, the special bond between Mr Rajnath Singh, Chulbul Singh, Brajesh Singh and Krishnanand Rai is quite obvious.

People will recall that Krishnanand Rai’s gang had launched an attack on Mokhtar Ansari’s family members last year and they narrowly missed being eliminated. In the usual pattern of gang war retribution, this time Mokhtar Ansari’s men struck back and unfortunately Krishnanand Rai was hit.