Bihar Minister resigns over govt. statement on Siwan incident

PATNA, MARCH 24. The Minister of State for Welfare, Mr. Eja-UL Haq, a supporter of the RJD MP, Mr. Shahebuddin, who is in the eye of a storm these days, has sought to put pressure on the State Government over its statement on the Siwan incident, by tendering his resignation from the Council of Ministers.

Even as Mr. Haq expressed dissatisfaction over the Government's statement in the Assembly yesterday, the RJD president, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, played down the resignation saying that the Minister had merely listed his grievances in his letter and that the government would redress the same.

Mr. Haq, after his meeting with Mr. Yadav, was at a loss to explain whether he had withdrawn his resignation letter or not, saying that he was hopeful of the government addressing itself to the issues he had raised in his letter. He said that he was upset that the statement did not reflect the atrocities heaped on the people by the police.

The Minister was confident that the government would clarify its stand, saying that he was likely to discuss the issue once again with the party chief. He time and again reiterated that he was still in the party and also in the government and that he was under pressure from the people of his contingency to take up their cause.

Mr. Yadav on his part said that both Mr. Shahabuddin and Mr. Haq were pillars of the party and that there were no differences over any issue within the party. He attributed the Minister's letter to misunderstandings that had cropped up over certain points in the statement.

Almost disowning the government statement, Mr. Yadav referred to the police action as a murderous assault aimed at killing the RJD MP with the sole intention of killing him and dislodging the Rabri Devi government.

He equated the police action to the Jallianawalabagh incident and said the Government would not spare anyone found guilty by the judicial probe that the government was committed to set up following the assurance given on the floor of the House.

Mr. Yadav also described as improper the manner in which the police had sought to execute the arrest warrants against Mr. Shahabuddin. He also pointed out that Mr. Shahabuddin had himself filed three cases to stress that these cases would also be investigated in due course. The RJD president said he would visit Pratapur on Monday to console the bereaved families and see things for himself. He said he would himself be the first witness to depose before the proposed judicial commission to highlight the atrocities heaped on the people there.

Incidentally, Mr. Haq was in the news the other day when some of the seven criminals nabbed by the police alleged that they carried on their operation from the Minister's quarters. The Minister denied knowledge of these criminals and denied giving protection to anyone of them.

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