NK'S POST

Prison, a painting by Vincet van Gogh NK SINGH Published in Frontier , 28 August 1971 Bihar is closely following the pattern set up by West Bengal ; jail-killings have started here too. But, thank God, the iron has not yet entered the soul of Biharis. There was much hue and cry -- termed by a local newspaper as "wide public resentment" over the firing in Patna Jail on July 7 and in Hazaribagh Jail on July 25 in which 2 and 17 prisoners were killed respectively. At both these places the killings were attributed to alleged "jail-breaking" attempts by Naxalite prisoners. In Patna Jail there was a scuffle between the prisoners and the jail staff over the death of a convict --   described by the jail officials as a suicide case. However, it was alleged in the Assembly that the convict did not kill himself. Following the death of the fellow prisoner, the prisoners, in a riotous mood, allegedly damaged the office records, burnt the grain godown, damaged the central...

Laloo Yadav, credit - KV Gautam Secret behind Laloo Yadav’s success, and failure NK SINGH Published in Aha Zindagi , March 2005 अहा! जिंदगी  के लिए पटना में लालू प्रसाद यादव के साथ  नरेन्द्र कुमार सिंह बिहार के गांवों में ‘ छोटी ‘ जाति के गरीब-गुरबों में मनोरंजन के दो सबसे लोकप्रिय साधन हैं . एक है बिदेसिया जो गीत-संगीत और नाच-गाने से भरपूर नौटंकी का एक फार्म है. दूसरा है लौंडा नाच , जिसमें बाईजी की जगह लड़कियों की वेष-भूषा में - कमसिन लड़के पेट्रोमेक्स की रोशनी में नाचते हैं। पर वह बिदेसिया हो या लौंडा नाच , एक चरित्र उसमें अनिवार्यतः रहता है - लबरा , विकटा या नकटा। नकटे की भले ही नाक कटी हो , चेहरा आड़ा-टेढ़ा हो , पर बड़ों-बड़ों पर अपना मसखरापन आजमाने से वह बाज नहीं आता। जब विकटा स्वागत शैली में क्रूर , कंजूस जमींदार पर अपने व्यंग्यबाण छोड़ता है तो उसकी बोली न केवल लोगों को गुदगुदाती है बल्कि कही अंदर गहराई तक छू भी जाती है। पारदर्शी धूर्तता से भरपूर नकटा बुरी ताकतों से लड़ता है और हीरो की अनुपस्थिति में बीच-बीच में नाचकर भी लोगों का मनोरंजन करता है। भारतीय राजनीतिक रंगमंच...

Surajgarha, the epicentre of Naxalite movement in Munger, Credit - Facebook NK SINGH From Young Indian , 26 August 1971 The place is under the charge of a special police squad comprising of border experts, senior intelligence officers and combatant section of the military police for several months. Besides the Central Reserve Police, services of than three hundred jawans of the Bihar Military Police have been requisitioned from NEFA. The armed forces are functioning from a number of static camps and mobile units equipped with wireless vans. But the guerrillas come from nowhere and carry out their missions successfully, that is, "annihilate the enemy", despite all the tight security arrangements. This is not happening in the remote forests of Nagaland but in the plaints of Bihar. Surajgarha, the epicentre Naxalites are reportedly in the Surajgarha region of Munger district. Surajgarha, lying on the south bank of the Ganges, is one of the four trouble-spots in Bihar, t...