Unpaid wages of Rs 2.47 lakh triggered a explosive caste skirmish in Bihar’s Harinagar village, resulting in SC/ST charges against 220 Brahmin community members. Darbhanga’s Kusheswar Asthan police station grapples with the fallout from this volatile episode.
January 30 marked the flashpoint: Kailash Paswan accosted Hemkant Jha’s sister-brother-in-law duo for house-building remuneration, sparking roadside rumpus. Despite panchayat efforts on the 31st, Brahmins allegedly descended en masse on Paswan’s quarters, wreaking havoc and hospitalizing 11.
Compelling video evidence underscores the uproar from the unpaid labor imbroglio. Ashrafi Paswan’s FIR targets 70 known assailants and 150 unknowns with stringent SC/ST provisions. Twelve culprits cuffed already, SDPO Biroul confirms, tracing turmoil to transactional tensions.
Counterclaims from Brahmins decry the dispute’s recasting as caste crusade, implicating non-participants—even outstation dwellers. Dalit rights workers nod to inaccuracies, advocating amendments to accusations. Village vibrates with volatility; named evade nets.
SC/ST Commission supremo Dhananjay Kumar surveyed survivors at DMCH, lambasting saboteurs for sabotaging serenity over a settleable sum. Acting on government go-ahead and MP Chirag Paswan’s prodding, Kumar commits to complainant compensation and culprit clampdown.
This Darbhanga dust-up dramatizes the dire need for de-escalatory mechanisms in debt-driven disputes, lest they detonate deeper divisions.