The death of a mahadaliit in Bihar’s Sheikhpura district on Monday sparked a controversy with the Opposition parties highlighting the death of 62-year-old Joba Manjhi as a “starvation death” while the
The death of a mahadaliit in Bihar’s Sheikhpura district on Monday sparked a controversy with the Opposition parties highlighting the death of 62-year-old Joba Manjhi as a “starvation death” while the local administration asserted that the death was due to prolonged illness. Sheikhpura district magistrate Chandra Shekhar said that the post-mortem showed that the cause of death was cirrhosis of liver but the Opposition rubbished it and said that the government must order a high-level inquiry into it. The state Assembly witnessed a ruckus on Monday, with the government being charged with ignoring the plight of mahadalits. The BJP and other Opposition parties criticised the Grand Secular Alliance government led by Nitish Kumar for “ignoring the plight of dalits and mahadalits in the state”. Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was in Patna, said his party (LJP) wants a judicial probe into the matter. While mounting an attack on the state government, he said that the food security programme was not being implemented by the state government.
“My party wants judicial probe into the death of a man who we believe died due to starvation”. Adding he said that “to examine the status of the food security program in Bihar a central team will soon visit and submit a report”.
Earlier former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and other leaders of his party had demanded the resignation of the chief minister “on moral grounds”. According to reports the district administration is said to have submitted a report to the state government stating “prolonged illness” as the main cause of the death. Joba Manjhi had died last week at his residence in Sheikhpura district of the state.
