Following RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s conviction and pronouncement of the jail sentence in the fourth fodder scam, in a not so surprising move, champions of justice have decided to come out defending him, calling his conviction in scams dating over two decades back, as Modi’s vendetta politics.
Sagarika Ghose, a self-proclaimed Nehru fangirl who was slammed for peddling Congress leader’s ‘spin’ on Lalu’s imprisonment, immediately took to Twitter to call Lalu’s conviction as ‘violation of fundamental human rights’.
The extraordinarily oppressive sentences handed out to @laluprasadrjd are a violation of fundamental human rights. Is LYP being punished for fodder scam or his massive anti-BJP rallies? https://t.co/cHAnmMkf3K
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) March 31, 2018
While Sagarika Ghose’s knowledge about law of the land is questionable, journalist and former Shiv Sena MP Pritish Nandy soon came to defend Lalu, who according to him, is not facing conviction for decades of scams.
We all know why @laluprasadrjd is being punished so severely and the truth is it has little to do with the fodder scam and more to do with his politics. https://t.co/WS0bNCgfT5
— Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) April 1, 2018
Even as Lalu Justice League was busy defending the indefensible, many Twitter users came out reminiscing the long forgotten times of lack of law and order in Laluland.
Total number of kidnappings reported in Bihar between 1992-2004 was more than 32 thousands, many were killed even after they took the ransom, Doctors & Engineers literally shifted to Varanasi due to the fear of Lalu Yadav & company, He pushed Bihar at least 10 years back.
— Bhaiyyaji (@bhaiyyajispeaks) April 1, 2018
Sadhu Yadav has a history of criminal complaints registered against him, including a complaint as late as 2016 when an FIR was registered against him for demanding Rs. 50 lakh extortion money. Back in 1999, he was also accused of rape and murder of Shilpi Jain and Gautam Singh, but Yadav reportedly refused DNA test.
Can you imagine the era where CBI failed to take blood sample of Sadhu Yadav while investigating ‘Shilpi-Gautam’ murder case, Yes even CBI could not mess with Lalu Yadav & his goons, this was the level of hooliganism in Bihar.
— Bhaiyyaji (@bhaiyyajispeaks) April 1, 2018
Other users who grew up in Laluland also shared their stories, which sound nothing less than a Bollywood potboiler. At a time when Bihar government under Lalu struggled to pay salaries of government employees, crores were spent on his daughter’s lavish wedding.
Laalu spent 100 crores in the wedding, (this was in 1999) all from state coffers, while it didn’t have any money to pay salaries to govt employees.
Every business owner had to pay this Rangdari tax, to the local goons, if you didn’t, you were shot or your kid was kidnapped
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 1, 2018
Speaking of Lalu’s daughter, one needs to remember the time when Lalu’s daughter Ragini’s ‘friend’ Abhishek died under mysterious circumstances in Ranchi. The case which bears striking similarities to the Nitish Katara murder case because it was widely believed that Ragini and Abhishek were romantically involved and more than just friends.
Twitter user GabbbarSingh further recalled the rampant kidnapping and extortion when Bihar was ruled by Lalu Yadav and his proxies.
As a kid, I could never realize the gravity coz we were lower middle class, no wealth for anyone to burgle, back at home by 7pm shut from the outside world, chased out only by mosquitoes and power cuts. Every house had a “generator connection”
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 1, 2018
He added how no one felt safe in his rule.
I can go on and on, Shahabuddin, the caste massacres, the state of education, the charwaha vidyalaya, the booth capturings, Gandhi setu..Phew.
In short, when I see a privileged journalist defending Laalu, it makes my blood boil.
You have no fuckin idea, Ms Sagarika ghose
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 1, 2018
Journalist Vivek Kaul, who spend his growing up years in Lalu’s Bihar also had similar stories to share where kids disappearing was a norm.
Lalu Justice League was back questioning Lalu’s sentence for a few scams.
But were any of those terrible things on the charge-sheet for which he was prosecuted? If this is an expression of schadenfreude, that’s one thing. If you think he deserves the consecutive punishment because of all this, then I’m afraid, that’s wrong.
— Salil Tripathi (@saliltripathi) April 1, 2018
Because all other crimes are forgotten if you arrest L K Advani and stop the rath yatra in the 1990s.
In my book, he will always get the deserved credit for having arrested LK Advani and stopped the rathyatra in 1990. It at least delayed the carnage and destruction of the idea of India. Doesn’t make him perfect, and he should be punished for the wrong he did. Advani, meanwhile…
— Salil Tripathi (@saliltripathi) April 1, 2018
The swarm coming out defending Lalu, who is a convict, shows that the narrative for the 2019 elections is already being built by the Opposition. Perhaps a good time for all criminals to come out against Modi to garner support from the so-called liberal journalists and patron saints of justice.
