Peaceful past to tense present, questions abound at Ground Zero

Jolted out of a peaceful past, Rehua Mansoor village has landed in a tense present amid police boots and wails of sirens as unanswered questions abound about Sunday’s violence, administrative failure and the alleged absence of adequate police force.

The cry for justice lingers and so does the hope for a quick return to normalcy.

A day after the death of Shiv Gopal Mishra in the violence at Maharajganj market in Bahraich’s Mahsi tehsil during the Durga idol immersion procession, the entire Rehua Mansoor village has assembled outside the ramshackle house of his father Kailash Nath Mishra, 80.

Kailash Nath’s elder son Hari Milan Mishra, 35 and Shiv Gopal’s mother Munni Devi are seated next to him.

Roli Mishra, Shiv Gopal’s wife, stands in a corner of the house. The couple was married four months ago.

Voices rise to a crescendo as the entire village is seeking stern action but is also raising a question mark on administrative failure to control the situation.

For the 20-25 years, idol immersion processions of several villages have assembled at Maharajganj Market of Mahsi tehsil.

From this point (in front of Indian Bank), all processions leave for Gauri Ghat for immersion of the Durga idol in the Saryu river.

This time, too, the immersion procession took the traditional route but the only difference this time was the alleged absence of adequate police force.

Taking no chances this time, police are deployed in the village even as media persons are making a beeline to have a sound bite of the family.

“There was not enough police force in the processions as compared to previous years. Cops are well aware that the Maharajganj market is sensitive,” said Hari Milan.

“A trivial dispute over DJ (loud music) led to the brutal murder of my brother. There was no point in carrying out lathi-charge. It was after the cane charge that those in the idol immersion procession fled, giving enough opportunity to the culprits to kill my brother,” Hari Milan added.

“Everything was going on as usual. All processions were assembled at Maharajganj market as they have been doing all these years,” said Pramod Kumar Mishra, former gram pradhan of Mansoor Rasoolpur.

“Some local boys objected to DJ. They snapped its wire and resorted to stone pelting from the culprit’s house. Youths in the procession retaliated,” Pramod Kumar Mishra added.

“A truck was brought to the spot and, with its help, Shiv Gopal Mishra reached the rooftop of a house and removed the green flag,” said Puttan Kumar, another villager.

However, police resorted to cane-charge and the truck was removed from the spot and Shiv Gopal got stuck on the terrace.

Before anyone could notice, inmates of the house dragged Shiv Gopal and brutally killed him, Devendra Mishra alleged.

In the village, a group of five to 10 people can be seen huddled and discussing the incident.

“The state government must set an example by taking stern action against culprits. But accountability must also be fixed at the administrative level,” said Pulkit Pandey, 21.

“It is only due to the failure of the local police that such an incident took place. Why police personnel in adequate numbers were not deployed for the procession like previous years,” asked Pandey.

“There had been tense situations earlier also in 2016 or 2017 during idol immersion. But due to the presence of a large number of cops, no untoward incident took place,” said Pramod Kumar Mishra.

Pawan Tewari of the adjoining village Gauri Shankar Purwa wants stern action against the culprits so that the tense situation can be normalised at the earliest.

“The incident has created a rift in entire region. The government must ensure that the situation does not spiral out of control,” Tewari added.