Araria: On Monday, chowkidar (home guard) Ganesh Lal Tamta was on duty at a checkpoint in Bairgachhi of Araria district in Bihar. Since the nationwide lockdown has been imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Tamta and his colleagues have been tasked with ensuring that people who are travelling have curfew passes to do so.
On that day, he was on duty with some of his colleagues and ASI Govind Singh at a check post. Tamta tried to stop a staff member of the agriculture department who was on a bike at the check post. The man didn’t stop.
A few hours later, district agriculture officer (DAO) Manoj Kumar came at the check post, along with 3-4 men on a four-wheeler. They identified chowkidar Tamta, verbally abused him and threatened to put him behind bars.
A baffled Tamta asked what he had done wrong. The DAO and the other men (along with ASI Singh) forced Tamta to hold his ears and do sit-ups on the road. He was forced to apologise with folded hands and fell on the officer’s feet. Visuals of the ‘punishment’ handed out to the chowkidar soon went viral on social media.
Fifty-year-old Ganesh, or Gonu as he is known in his village, has been working as a chowkidar since 1998. Tamta says this is the first time in his 22 years of duty that he has faced such humiliation. A father of three sons and three daughters, Tamta broke into tears when The Wire spoke to him on Wednesday morning.
“This has never happened before. Nobody has ever spoken to me so disrespectfully in my whole life. I don’t feel well at all and I don’t know what to do,” said Tamta.
As the video went viral on Facebook and Twitter, Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey addressed the issue. “I feel sad that the (district agricultural) officer wanted to gain respect by humiliating a chowkidar. Human dignity is for all; whether it is a chowkidar or an IAS or IPS officer, everybody deserves the same amount of respect,” he said. Pandey also said that action will be taken the DAO and ASI Singh for humiliating Tamta.
Bihar’s leader of opposition, Tejashwi Yadav, tweeted, “The bureaucracy is unbridled in Bihar. How is the district agriculture officer forcing an old home guard to do sit ups because the dutiful man asked him to show the car pass?”
बिहार में अफ़सरशाही बेलगाम है। कैसे ज़िला कृषि अधिकारी एक बुज़ुर्ग होमगार्ड से उठक-बैठक करवा रहा है क्योंकि कर्तव्यपरायण होमगार्ड ने उससे गाड़ी का पास दिखाने को कहा था। हाल ही में बेगुसराय में पुलिस कस्टडी में 2 युवाओं की संस्थानिक हत्या हुई है।जनप्रतिनिधियों की कोई नहीं सुन रहा। https://t.co/2TXdXR8E0R pic.twitter.com/rK1vIzj9Vg
— Tejashwi Yadav (@yadavtejashwi) April 21, 2020
State agriculture minister Prem Kumar has ordered a departmental enquiry in the matter.
“What happened is objectionable. The chowkidar is risking his life to ensure that the rules of the lockdown are followed by everyone. It is very sad”, said the minister in a statement.
Tamta falls at DAO Manoj Kumar’s feet. Photo: Screengrab
Pradeep Singh, BJP MP from Araria, termed the DAO’s action ‘inhuman’ and said, “The dutiful chowkidar should be awarded. When the world sleeps, a chowkidar guards us. Everyone should be respected. Everyone has equal rights.”
Meanwhile, some Twitter users also pointed out the humiliation of ‘corona warriors‘ like Tamta. On April 14, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the extension of the 21-day lockdown, he had asked for ‘corona warriors’ (healthcare workers, police personnel and sanitation workers) to be respected.
The Wire attempted to call the DAO Manoj Kumar multiple times but he did not respond. The story will be updated if and when he responds.
Tanzil Asif is a Bihar-based journalist-cum-entrepreneur and the founder of a hyper-local news organisation, Main Media. He tweets at @tnzl_