Patna: After Jay Kishore Singh, an Indian Army jawan, was killed in the 2020 Galwan violence involving Chinese troops, his family in Bihar’s Chak Fateh village, Vaishali district, built a memorial for him there. Now, that very memorial has become the trigger for a caste and land conflict in the village – and led to the late jawan’s father’s temporary arrest.
Jay Kishore’s family built the memorial for him on government land just beside the road in Chak Fateh village. The memorial then just had four pillars; later, a bust and walls were erected.
The memorial is in front of land belonging to Harinath Ram. The construction, he has claimed, was done in a way that blocked access to his land – and was an attempt to take it over.
Raj Kapoor Singh, Jay Kishore’s father and a Rajput, was arrested by the Jandaha police on February 25 for allegedly causing danger to human life, causing hurt voluntarily, causing public disturbance and criminal intimidation. He was also charged under various sections of the SC/ST Act. He was granted bail on March 2.
The arrest was made on the basis of an FIR filed against him on January 23, based on a complaint by Harinath Ram of Kajari Bujurg village, about 1.5 km from Chak Fateh. He belongs to the Mahadalit community. He had written an application to the circle officer (CO) against the construction of the memorial.
Manoj Kumar, Harinath Ram’s son, believes that construction of the memorial is a ploy to force his family to sell their land. “By making the memorial, they blocked the route which leads to our land.”
“They have land parallel to our land. So why did they not build a memorial in front of their own land?” Manoj said, speaking to The Wire.
He added that no permission was obtained from the administration before constructing the memorial.
The documents issued by the CO of Jandaha clearly indicate that the memorial was built without proper permission and an encroachment suit in ongoing. A bond was signed by both families that they will maintain the status quo and not do any fresh construction. But, Manoj said, despite this, Raj Kapoor Singh did plaster work on the memorial on August 21 and constructed boundary walls on December 17 last year.
The conflict between the two families, and allegations of discrimination, are not new. In 2019 as well, a dispute surfaced between them. Sunaina Devi, Manoj Kumar’s mother, had alleged in 2019 that she was going to plant paddy when she saw that Raj Kapoor had kept soil on her land. “When we told him to remove the soil, he and his family members used caste-based abusive words against us and attacked,” she wrote to the police.
Raj Kapoor had been earlier arrested in this case.
Manoj said, “I had bought the land in 2005 to build a house as it is near the road, but they are forcing us to sell the land.”
“I respect the martyrdom of Jay Kishore Singh. He fought for Indian land, but his father is snatching our land. They believe that we are Mahadalit so they can do anything, but the Constitution gives equal rights to all of us,” Manoj said.
“We all want a memorial, but it should be built following the rules and regulations without disturbing anyone,” he added. “But they are not abiding by the law. They were constructing the memorial ignoring the order of the gram kach-hari as well as orders of the CO.”
Mahua SDPO Punam Keshari too corroborated Manoj’s claims. She said, “Harinath Ram’s path to his land was disturbed due to the memorial. Earlier there were only four pillars at the memorial but later they built the walls. The administration had told him to not encroach on government land for the memorial, but he did not listen.”
“They could have asked the government for land to build a memorial, or they could have constructed it on their own land,” she said.
Nand Kishore Singh, an army jawan and Jay Kishore’s brother, refuted the allegations made by Manoj. He told The Wire, “When the memorial was built, both parties had an agreement that Harinath would leave his land and we would give him equal land at another place. I purchased the land and asked the CO to have a look but he didn’t go. Harinath also didn’t agree to take the land.”
“If we are disturbing him due to his caste, then how is he cultivating on his land which is 1.5 km away?”
Nand Kishore also alleged misbehaviour by the police: “Police arrived in four vehicles and took him [Raj Kapoor]. Police slapped him while arresting him and he was beaten in a police vehicle as well as at the police station.”
“We were not informed about any FIR earlier. Police had just told us to remove the memorial,” Nand Kishore said.
The police have denied the allegations. Vishwanath Ram, SHO of Jandaha police station, told The Wire, “We did not misbehave with the accused. You can see video footage of the CCTV camera. We arrested him because the situation in the village was tense and caste-based tension was being spread.”
He asked, “There is a Shahid Bhawan in the martyr’s name, then what is the point of making a memorial in front of Harinath’s land? What is the motive behind this?”
The SHO also denied allegations of favouritism, saying he acted to maintain law and order. “They had disputes before I became SHO. I followed the rules,” he said.
Edited by Jahnavi Sen.
