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A shocking failure of security

Sunday's brazen naxalite attack on Jehanabad's high security prison is shocking even by Bihar's notoriously lax law and order standard. For all of that night a thousand-strong army of extremists had a free run of the town. They stormed the prison using firearms and bombs, killed Ranvir Sena leader Bade Sharma, took other Sena men hostage, and freed hundreds of their jailed cadre, including the Area Commander of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), Ajay Kanu. The guerilla operation left behind a trail of chaos and confusion, with liberated prisoners and ordinary citizens mingling freely to the horror of the hopelessly outnumbered security guards. That the Maoists struck within hours of the conclusion of the penultimate phase of the ongoing Assembly election added a bizarre touch to the drama. Indeed, earlier in the day, the Bihar bureaucracy and the Election Commission had claimed credit for providing a "violence-free" environment for the election. Jehanabad itself had a reasonably peaceful election in the first phase, thanks to the EC's hawk-like watch on the constituency. As it turned out, the EC's insistence on saturation security cover went to the advantage of the ultras who timed their attack to coincide with polling elsewhere in the State. Not that this absolves the Centre or the State Government of blame. The State Chief Secretary has admitted to prior information on the movement of naxal groups from Jharkhand to Bihar, which was all the more reason for exercising vigil in violence-prone Jehanabad.

The Jehanabad siege holds valuable lessons for those dealing with Bihar. Few will quarrel with the Election Commission's determination to enforce "free and fair" polls in a State till recently infamous for its rigged elections. Yet, maximum security and staggered elections pose their own problems. A month-long election exercise cannot but stretch the forces and leave crucial gaps in security. Jehanabad was left vulnerable by the concentration of forces in other parts of Bihar. The jailbreak has only reinforced Bihar's anarchic image. This said, there is an urgent need to go beyond law and order concerns and place the State's endemic caste and class violence in a larger socio-economic context. The uprising in the naxal belt of Bihar is a product of the social unrest engendered by decades of upper caste dominance. Stories of bonded labour suffering hardship at the hands of the land-owning upper castes are legion. The advent of the naxalites led to the birth of the warlike Ranvir Sena, a caste army raised by the Bhumihars to decimate the Maoists' support base. Needless to say, the Sena's primary targets were the poor and landless Dalits, who, in turn, looked to the naxals for protection and support. That the Maoists were able to mobilise thousands of their cadre for the jailbreak operation speaks to the extent of their support. It is vital that security is restored in Jehanabad at the earliest. It is equally important that administrators begin to address the long-neglected problems of the people.

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