On 31 August 2017, after nearly sixteen months, a judicial court in the district of Gaya, delivered a judgment holding Rocky Yaday, a young son of former legislator-parents, guilty of murdering another young motorist on the road. The fault of the assassinated man was that he reportedly overtook the Land Rover Rocky was riding along with the two more accomplices.
The judgement in the case brings home a few points:
Even in a lawless state like Bihar, the victims get justice within a reasonable period of time.
The Additional District and Sessions Judge Sachchidanand Singh must have had worked hard and with determination to bring the case to a fruition, because in Bihar, the defense lawyers in alliance with the government-appointed prosecutors, continue to prolong the cases endlessly and they milk both the sides. The role of the judges also become suspect.
Secondly, the parents in Bihar who have become rich and powerful by getting lucrative contracts or by playing caste politics should learn a lesson to not let power and wealth get into the heads of their young kids. They must not set their children on the path to becoming criminals on the pattern of their own life. If they do, they will see their son, like Rocky Yadav, imprisoned or, in other cases, possibly shot dead by rival gangs. Will a parent like to see that fate for his/her child?
Unfortunately, in Bihar, there are many role models: the chief of them being the former CM, Lalu Yadav, who seems to have taught his kids since their childhood how to skirt around all kinds of unlawful, illegal and immoral activities. From the fraudulent medical education and degree of Misa Yadav to the benami acquisition of land and wealth by the sons are the illustrations in point.
If the justice runs its course honestly, the Lalu's family should be involved in litigation for a long haul. One must wonder what lessons Lalu learnt from his fodder scam ordeal!
Obviously, not every parent in Bihar thinks the same way as Lalu does. However, the Lalu model or his mindset influences scores of people -- most likely in his own Yadav community. Responsible, yet scared or disgruntled parents think their first objective is to send their children away from Bihar.
The people of Bihar, particularly the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) -- primarily among them the Yadavs -- must stand up and assert that the so-called leaders like Bindi Yadav, Rocky Yadav, Lalu Yadav, Pappu Yadav or Sharad Yadav were not their leaders. They have exploited their communities and caste sentiments for their own selfish gains. They must not get leadership positions among themselves.
Here, the Yadavs, as a social-political group, has to be singled out with some justification: In the last Bihar Vidhan Sabha election, according to a report, one out of every four legislators elected was a Yadav by caste. Every political party across the board in Bihar courts the Yadav community for electoral support.
The stories from Rocky Yadav to Lalu Yadav must motivate the younger and more educated generation to throw off the corrupt and blemished leadership from their community.
The image of an entire community must not go down the drain because of a handful of corrupt, criminalized, manipulative scamsters in their midst. A just call, this applies to all.
Dr. Binoy Shanker Prasad hails from Darbhanga and currently resides with his family in Dundas, Ontario (Canada). A former UGC teacher fellow (at JNU) in India and Fulbright scholar in the USA, he has taught politics and authored conference papers, articles and chapters on Bihar in previously published books in the United States, India, and Canada.
Dr. Prasad administers a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/OverseasBihari and has sponsored “Aware Citizenship Campaign” at a micro-level in his home-town.
