An Eerie Silence Indeed!
When I met Prof. Papiya Ghosh in the
US, I looked upon her as a symbol of
emerging Bihar, full of confidence
and optimism that Bihar would soon
rise from the ashes to take its
rightful place in the country's
progress. But alas, on that fateful
night of 2nd December last year, she
herself was consigned to ashes, and
with that a part my dreams of a new
Bihar.
Well, not entirely. With a new
leadership and all the enthusiasm
being displayed in Patna recently, I
thought changes would still be
possible.
But to me , and to many others
watching the events unfolding in
Bihar, the yardstick of real
progress is not only the pomp and
promises made in the Patna durbars,
but how soon and how effectively the
pending cases like those of
Satyendra Dubey and Prof. Papiya
Ghoshs' are being handled, as the
new State has full control ever
these.
Eerie silence in the media, in Prof.
Papiya Ghosh's murder case could be
for any of these reasons. One, the
police have not informed the media
of the progress they have been
making, two, there is really no
progress since the nabbing of a few
of the culprits more than a month
back, or three, and that is the
worst scenario which Bihar police
has often been accused of in the
past, is that there are certain
'hands' behind the crime which might
get exposed if investigations are
taken further.
Whatever the situation might be, the
public has the right to know. Also,
for Bihar and its new administration
it is an opportunity to come clean
of the 'woh-to-chal-hi-raha-hai'
attitude. The NRBs' are interested
in having a fresh look at their
homeland, but will they be inclined,
unless they see tangible change in
the climate of crime and extortion
which has plagued Bihar for so long
?
It is time the police in Bihar break
their mystifying silence. - Arun
Prakash Bakshi - Jan. 27, 2007
On the occasion of Republic Day, our
Hon. President Dr. A.P.J. Kalam,
has, in his message to the nation,
exhorted citizens to contribute
whole heartedly of their talents so
that the goal of Developed India by
2020 becomes a reality.
But my question is – what happens in
real life to those who have already
done so? What price have they been
made to pay ?
Prof. Papiya Ghosh was one of those
people who had imbibed this high
ideal at a very early age.
Therefore, she left her prestigious
teaching job at Hindu College, Delhi
University, and returned to dedicate
her life to higher education in
Bihar. She contributed a lifetime of
unstinting effort to seeing that
students in Patna were not left
lagging behind their counterparts in
places like Delhi.
In addition to setting high
standards of teaching, she did
pioneering research on Bihari
Muslims, particularly Dalit Muslims
affected by the Partition of India.
To this she devoted three decades of
her life. Ironically, though, her
book was released only days after
her death.
It was her faith in Bihar that made
her stay on in Patna, at a time when
many were leaving Bihar because of
the uncertain law and order
situation there.
But, in the end, her faith proved
sadly misplaced. On the deadly night
of the 2nd December, she, along with
her aged, invalid maid, were
brutally done to death, by a group
of armed intruders, who then
proceeded to then loot her house at
leisure.
But such is the fear psychosis, even
in the capital, that though the
double murder and robbery, must have
taken several hours, and the house
is at a prominent crossroad, just
yards away from the police thana,
‘nobody heard and nobody saw
anything’.
Given this environment, what is
there to motivate young people to
give unstintingly of their best and
contribute whole heartedly to the
development of their state? -
Heeru Sharma - Jan. 27, 2007
Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Mattoo
murder cases got solved. Criminals
got the punishment and they also
come from rich and powerful
families. Why then Papiya’s and
Malti Devi’s killer/s are still at
loose? What Nitish Kumar’s
government is doing? How rich and
politically powerful are these
criminals I wonder…. hello Mr Nitish
Kumar! Are you listening? - Name
withheld at writer's request - Jan.
27, 2007
During whole of December, I was in
India for vacation when all this
news was top headline and I could
read something about it on daily
basis. Looked like a conclusion is
on the way but then just seemed to
fall off the radar. Only God and
more powerful persons than me would
know why ? During my whole stay, I
came across few situations involving
police matters for passport renewal,
verification and general stories
about police from family, friends
and newspapers. If you believe me or
those stories, I would not get my
hopes very high from police no
matter how good intentions of the CM
and his government. I guess even the
instructions from CM gets lost
somewhere in the middle even before
there is some corrective action at
thana level. Late Papiya Ghosh was a
prominent citizen and even the PM
called the CM to enquire. Even if
this is not enough then God knows
what could happen if just an
ordinary citizen like most of our
readers are involved. Scary. -
Ravindra Kumar - Jan. 27, 2007
Oh GREAT!! So this is it on so
called investigation on Papiya Ghosh
murder case…
"Sinha also said the criminals had
gone into her house with the
intention of committing robbery but
when Dr. Ghosh and her live in maid
Malti Devi woke up due to noise, the
criminals chose to kill both of them
to silence the witnesses."
Now we will never see the real
criminals get punishment, or we will
be told the real horror story… this
time too so called powerful
political goons will get easily away
with the crime…. but there should be
some way to get to the real culprits
like it happened in the case of
other heinous crimes like Jessica
Lall or Priyadarshini Matto’s but
may be in Bihar that is not
possible, ALAS! I thought and hoped
that Mr Nitish Kumar can change
Bihar, can put ‘JUSTICE’ in Bihar’s
dictionary, and this was his one of
the golden opportunities… but it
seems ‘’jo jaye Lanka, wohi ho Ravan’.
- Name withheld at writer's
request. -
Jan. 30, 2007
The questions remain...
I started feeling a bit more
optimistic when I read in your paper
this morning that the charge sheet
for four of the six accused in Prof.
Papiya Ghosh's murder case, has been
filed.
TOI, however, has given a more
detailed account.
Two questions still linger in my
mind,
One: Where are the other two
accused, and what were their roles
in these grisly killings? How long
would it take to nab them and bring
them to justice?
Two: How could the DGP, Mr.Ashish
Ranjan Sinha say (as per your news
item) that 'the criminals had gone
into the house with the intention of
committing robbery, but when Dr.
Ghosh and her live in maid, Malti
Devi woke up due to the noise, the
criminals chose to kill both of them
to silence the witnesses' Is the
police playing the role of both the
prosecutor and the defence? And
then, how can the police possibly
explain that the dacoits instead of
getting away with the loot as
quickly as possible, took their own
time to inflict gruesome injuries on
the victims, just in order to
silence the two helpless women ?
Is there more to it than meets the
eye? - Arun Prakash Bakshi -
Jan. 30, 2007 |
