AAP leader questions alleged fake encounter of man in Bihar's Bhojpur

AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha questioned the alleged fake encounter of Bharat Bhushan Tiwari in Bihar's Bhojpur. Jha claimed Tiwari was a social activist with no criminal record who was targeted for questioning the government and the system.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Burari MLA, Sanjeev Jha on Sunday raised serious questions over the alleged fake encounter by Bihar Police in which a 28-year old-man Bharat Bhushan Tiwari died on Wednesday, June 17, in Bhojpur district under the Shahpur police station area in Bihar.

The AAP leader claimed that Tiwari was targeted for questioning the 'ED Party' (BJP) government and the system. He said that if there were any allegations against Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, he should have been arrested and dealt with through due legal and judicial process. Describing him as a youth who fought for social causes and raised public issues before the government, the AAP MLA questioned whether circumstances were deliberately created to push him toward crime and ultimately justify his encounter. He asserted that asking questions in a democracy is not a crime and demanded that the truth behind the incident be brought before the public.

AAP MLA questions encounter

Jha said, "Four days ago, a young man was killed in an encounter in the Bhojpur region of Bihar, and the reports emerging since then are disturbing." He said that for the past three days he had been speaking over the phone with many people in Bhojpur to understand why the police felt the need to carry out the encounter. "Was the young man such a major criminal or a threat to society? Did he have any criminal record?" Jha asked. According to local people, there were no prior criminal cases against him. Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, he said, was a young man who fought for people in society and consistently stepped forward to question the government and the system over public issues.

Jha further said, "He was certainly hurt by the failure of the system and the government to respond. But is it such a grave offence that if someone raises their voice against this rotten system, they can be gunned down in an encounter on the street?"

Was this a pre-planned encounter?

The AAP MLA added that he had watched numerous videos in which police personnel were sitting face-to-face with the youth and speaking with him. "If he was such a serious threat, why did the police not arrest him when he was sitting in front of them? Was an atmosphere deliberately created to provoke and repeatedly push him toward committing offences, only to later create the circumstances for his encounter? Was this a pre-planned encounter?," Jha asked

'Attempt to destroy the Constitution'

He noted that by eliminating someone who asked questions, an attempt was being made to intimidate others in society from questioning those in power, which is extremely dangerous. People elect governments to protect them, he said, but if citizens are openly killed in encounters for questioning their own government, then democracy in the country has effectively come to an end. Such actions, he argued, amount to an attempt to destroy the Constitution.

"Governments with such a mindset are neither good for democracy nor for constitutional institutions. They are misusing every institution and moving toward dictatorship," he added.

Jha likens 'ED party' government to demons

Sanjeev Jha said that similar attempts to intimidate people are being made wherever the ED Party is in power. "In some places, bulldozers are being used to demolish homes; elsewhere, people are being targeted through the ED and CBI and sent to jail; and if a young person raises questions on the streets, they are killed in an encounter," he stated. He noted that people are angry, and justifiably so.

The senior AAP leader further argued, "It is legitimate to question and express anger against a government with a dictatorial mindset. No minister or leader from the government is providing any answers, and they seem entirely unconcerned."

Drawing a comparison from the Ramayana, he said that just as Ravana came disguised as a sage to abduct Maa Sita, these leaders come before the people during elections in the guise of saints, seeking votes in the name of Lord Ram, but turn into demons after coming to power. He continued, "They then begin destroying and uprooting the very people and communities that elected them, while remaining busy with plunder and corruption."

Jha said the time has now come to give such people and such governments a fitting response. Jha asserted, "The foundations of Indian democracy are very strong and whenever anyone has attempted to become a dictator, the people have responded decisively. Such actions should not be tolerated."

He expressed hope that the government would answer the questions being raised. Otherwise, he said, the people of this country have, at different points in history, found their own ways to hold governments accountable. (ANI)

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