Rahul Encounter: Making a martyr of a gunman

In normal times, the Mumbai police would not have drawn much flak for the killing of a gun-wielding youth who was threatening bus passengers and bystanders. These, however, are not normal times. The shooting-to-death of Rahul Raj Kundan Prasad Singh, who came to Mumbai from Patna in search of a job, is witnessing a rapid rise in political temperatures in Bihar as well as Maharashtra. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who argued that the police could have overpowered Rahul without shooting him down, sent across an Inspector-General of Police to Mumbai to collect details of the incident and submit a report. Union Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan were also quick to condemn the killing. For its part, the Maharashtra government defended the police action and ordered a high-level probe. Not to be left out, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray, the estranged cousin of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, asked the political leaders of Bihar to keep off Maharashtra. The incident would not have provoked such sharp reactions were it not for the larger context of the hate politics carried on by the Shiv Sena and its offshoot, the MNS, against north Indians. According to those who knew Rahul, the case was particularly tragic because he was motivated by anger over MNS activists targeting Bihari youth looking for employment in Mumbai; and the attack on those appearing for a Railway Recruitment Board examination on October 19 deeply disturbed him. In brandishing his gun at the passengers and the conductor, Rahul was apparently trying to convey a message to the MNS chief through the police and the media. That he did this consciously as a political statement has made his case politically volatile in both States.
The anger in political circles in Bihar over the use of ‘excessive’ force by the Mumbai police is symptomatic of the widespread outrage against the attacks on Biharis by the MNS thugs. Rahul is now being seen as a martyr in the cause of unemployed youth looking for jobs in Mumbai. Whatever the findings of the probe ordered by the Maharashtra government, the larger issues raised by the controversy will not die down so long as the Sena and the MNS persist with their toxic chauvinism. The Janata Dal (United) led by Mr. Kumar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal led by Mr. Prasad, and the Lok Jan Shakti Party led by Mr. Paswan are essentially regional parties without much support beyond Bihar. They too are susceptible to the pulls of chauvinism. If competitive chauvinism is not to overwhelm the two States, the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra needs to act tough with the likes of Raj Thackeray.