|
Ranchi:
The six Maoists sentenced to death for gunning down 19 people in
Jharkhand committed the massacre because they could not locate the
one man they wanted: a former chief minister's brother.
When I reached ground zero in Chilkhari village of Giridih
district Oct 27, 2007, I saw the blood-splattered bodies. It was a
horrifying sight.
It was a ground normally used to play football. An orchestra had
been organised there only hours earlier, and Babulal Marandi's
younger brother Nunulal Marandi was the chief guest.
Babulal Marandi, a tribal, was the first chief minister of
Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar.
Also present at the site was Babulal Marandi's younger son Anup,
22, who had got married only months earlier.
I had been invited to the wedding but could not attend. That day,
I saw him dead.
We later learnt how -- and why -- the bloodbath occurred.
The Maoists had suddenly descended on the village. They got on to
the stage where the orchestra was, picked up a microphone and
demanded to know where Nunulal Marandi was.
It was a chilling question.
The Maoists were in a mood for revenge. The former chief minister
and his brother had launched a campaign against Maoists from 2003
when Babulal Marandi fought a parliamentary election from Koderma.
Hearing his name, Nunulal tried to escape. And since no one was
ready to betray him, the Maoists opened indiscriminate gunfire.
In no time, 19 people, including Anup, lay dead. Ironically,
Nunulal got away.
It was probably the first time that Maoists also killed tribal
villagers in their desperation to find their target.
A few days later, a woman who had been wounded succumbed to her
injuries, taking the death toll to 20. It was the worst Maoist
massacre in Jharkhand.
When Babulal Marandi reached the spot, he behaved more like a
leader than a father. He did not cry for his son. He expressed
grief for every victim.
Chilkhari village, where the people were killed, is located on the
border close to Bihar.
I recall that it was in June when Babulal Marandi invited me for
his son Anup's marriage.
He explained that unlike others, he wanted to keep the wedding low
key. So there were no printed invitations. People were invited
telephonically.
Two years later, I met Bilsi Devi, the young man's widow. She had
just voted in the assembly elections.
In calm voice, she said that her husband's killing had not
deterred her from voting. And that she had voted against "Naxalism".
Perhaps because a former chief minister's family was involved,
police acted fast and arrested 10 people for the massacre.
Among them was Jitan Marandi, a resident of Giridih who claimed he
was an activist of the cultural wing of the Communist Party of
India-Maoist but had no involvement in the killing.
According to him, there is another Jitan Marandi who was an active
Maoist and operated in the Jharkhand-Bihar border region.
Aparna, the wife of Jitan, was as distraught as Anup's. She
maintains that her husband would not kill even an ant.
She has vowed to appeal against Thursday's death sentence.
(Shahnawaz
Akhtar can be contacted at shahnawaz.a@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links