Author: Saswat Panigrahi
Publication: Niticentral.com
Date: November 1, 2013
URL: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/11/01/nitish-kumars-bihar-a-crucible-for-islamists-153541.html

A series of explosions rocked Bihar’s capital city Patna last Sunday, during BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s Hunkar Rally, killing six people and leaving 66 injured.

One bomb went off at the Patna Railway Station, four other blasts occurred in the vicinity of Gandhi Maidan, the venue for the Hunkar Rally. Another blast took place inside the rally ground, and a live bomb found under Modi’s dais.

Even as the Bihar Chief Minister maintained that there was no intelligence alert about the terror strike in Patna, it is learnt that three days before the blasts the Intelligence Bureau had sent a specific alert suggesting a possible attack on Narendra Modi’s Hunkar Rally.

In the letter dated October 23 , numbered v-111/PA/2013 (3) sent to Bihar Police, the Intelligence Bureau clearly stated that Indian Mujahideen modules could organise strikes during the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate’s rally in Patna. But Nitish Government chose not to pay heed to the intelligence inputs. Why?

There were serious lapses in security measures for Narendra Modi’s Hunkar Rally. First, the rally ground was not sanitised. Second, the anti-sabotage checking, mandatory for any public rally, was not done properly. Third, Advance Security Liaison (ASL), a common practice during the visit of a Chief Minister of another State, was not carried out properly. Why?

Nitish Kumar might be Narendra Modi’s political detractor, but as part of the system, the Bihar Chief Minister shouldn’t have forgotten his duty to serve his Gujarat counterpart, who was his State guest. But Nitish Kumar deliberately failed to do so in a desperate attempt to score some brownie points.

The Patna blasts show how Bihar’s law and order situation has gone for a toss. Moreover, the terror attacks point to the State’s vulnerable security situation under the Nitish Kumar rule.

Thanks to Nitish Kumar’s wild communal appeasement, Bihar has become a new hub for Islamists. Not to forget that it was the same Bihar Police which refused to take Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal into custody after he was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border by the NIA. This fact points to some obvious deeper political reasons. It may be recalled that it was Nitish Kumar who described LeT fidayeen Ishrat Jahan as Bihar ki beti (daughter of Bihar).

Is JDU being funded from within Pakistan?

Now it has emerged that the mastermind of Patna serial blasts has links with Nitish Kumar’s JDU. Tehseen Akhtar, the key plotter of Patna blasts is the nephew of Taki Akhtar, JDU general secretary in Samastipur district.

Patna blasts plotter Tehseen Akhtar linked with Nitish’s JDU

Incidentally, the Patna serial blasts happened just three months after a series of blasts jolted the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, the holiest site of Buddhism. Both the blasts suggest an Indian Mujahideen module.

This time, the Indian Mujahideen planted bombs to sabotage Narendra Modi’s rally. The low intensity bombs simply meant to terrorise people, were aimed at triggering a stampede at the rally venue and killing BJP cadre and supporters.  The blasts were therefore primarily targeted at Narendra Modi to settle a ‘political score’.

However these blasts notwithstanding, a sea of humanity had congregated at Gandhi Maidan to listen to the icon of good governance and mascot of development who spoke on communal harmony.