Nitish said Bhagalpur riot victims got land back. They didn’t

In Garhotia village under Lodhipur police station,14 km from Bhagalpur town,land owned by the 17 Muslim families who fled their homes after the 1989 riots,and whom Nitish was referring to,is controlled by 75-year-old Patel Yadav. This season,Yadav has cultivated toor (pigeon pea) in a portion of the 7,405 sq ft land he usurped and has been illegally tilling for two decades now. On most days,he can be found on the land,next to which he has also built a house.

The Muslim families,all living on daily wages,are settled one-and-a-half kilometres away,on the Bhagalpur-Gautradih road,in thatched huts. Twenty-four years later,they admit,they still don’t have the confidence to go back to their old plots,surrounded as these are by over 400 Hindu households.

The government land restoration claims are “paper work”,they say. Each family is entitled to one decimal (or 435.6 sq ft) of land — enough for just a small room and a verandah. “Once in a while,officials get the land measured,but nothing happens,” say the families.

Subhani,who is also Secretary,Home,doesn’t contest this,adding that the Bhagalpur district administration has also established this fact. “But it is also true that Bhagalpur police restored land possession in 2008,but the victims abandoned it. We will get the land restored finally on December 5,” he claims.

Asked about Nitish’s statement that land had been restored,Subhani said: “It was as per the judicial commission’s findings.” The state government had empowered one such panel to restore the land. According to the secretary,“The commission successfully got possession with help from the DIG,Bhagalpur. But since individual land holdings were very small and victims had settled elsewhere,they did not cultivate anything.”

After Nitish’s statement,there was some activity at Garhotia. On November 29,officials came to see Patel. While they were supposed to return the next day,they haven’t come back since.

However,given that election season is already upon Bihar,and given Nitish’s efforts to distance himself from the BJP,families like Bibi Jubaida’s are hopeful. “Land restoration is very important. We have also been hearing about it,” she says,pointing to her old plot. Others with Jubaida sit down on their old land — to “feel the earth”,they say.

Over 1,000 people were killed and went missing during the riots that started on the afternoon of October 24,1989,from Tatarpur under Bhagalpur. Garhotia was under Sabaur police station at the time. While 112 died or went missing in Sabaur,two people from Garhotia were killed.

In the 1980s,the then Congress government had given the one-decimal land to each of the 17 Muslim families of Garhotia. They had built mud houses with asbestos covers. “As the news of the killings started,all the 17 families left. This place was unsafe as there were Hindus all around. We could not collect any of our belongings,” says Adina Khatun (75),the eldest of those displaced. Her son Mohammed Wahab owned land in the village.

Ali Hasan says most of them have been living with relatives or acquaintances. “Some of us bought small plots at another place in Garhotia while others have been living on vacant government land. But none of us has pucca houses. It is almost like living under the sun,” says Hasan.

While Patel claims he has only been taking care of the land of his Muslim neighbours and that he was ready to give up his “rights”,even his family makes no such pretence. Muslim families say the family drove them away when they tried to do cultivation years ago.

Jubaida accuses politicians of doing politics at their expense,and says it suits them to keep families like hers poor. “Can you imagine that a woman gets Rs 68 for binding 1,000 bidis,which takes her two days?” She is among the few to send their children to private schools. Meraz,9,goes to one that charges Rs 100 a month. The children from here don’t go to the village primary school.

Mohammed Shabbir and brother Mohammed Ali,who share over one decimal of land,point out that they are eligible for the Indira Awaas Yojana,and that if they can get pucca houses made,moving back may be easier.

“It is not safe to live without any house boundary and gates,” adds Ali Hasan,who has eight daughters and three sons. He used to ply a jugaad vehicle,but the government has now made this illegal.

On November 25,Nitish announced that pension to dependents of Bhagalpur victims would be doubled to Rs 5,000 per month. Subhani says 286 people of Bhagalpur and 88 of Banka,who have been getting the pension,would get it for life.

Without a house to call their own,says Adina,the money doesn’t mean anything. Years ago,the riot victims got Rs 1,000 as compensation. Showing her mud house,Adina says: “Dekh lo mera pucca ghar (See my pucca house). Can Nitish give a pucca house to us? Or should we believe that whether it is Lalu Prasad or Nitish,all are the same?”