In Bihar, a group of protesters attempted to set a school bus on fire during the Bharat Bandh on Wednesday. The incident, captured in a video by news agency IANS, occurred in the Gopalganj area. The video shows demonstrators surrounding a yellow school bus filled with children in uniform, with one individual setting a tyre on fire beneath the bus. Fortunately, the police intervened in time, preventing any harm to the children.
The Bihar Police responded to the situation by using lathi-charges and water cannons to disperse the agitators who had blocked railways and roads. The Bharat Bandh was organized to demand community-based reservations, and protesters caused significant disruptions to train services in locations such as Darbhanga and Buxar. Traffic was also affected in various districts, including Patna, Hajipur, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Purnea, Katihar, Muzaffarpur, and Begusarai.
The Patna district administration issued a statement confirming that three FIRs were filed, and nine individuals were arrested for their involvement in the protests. In Jehanabad, clashes between protesters and security forces occurred on National Highway-83 near Unta Chowk, leading to the arrest of five people. Similar attempts to block roads and set tyres on fire were made in other districts, but security forces acted quickly to disperse the crowds.
The Bharat Bandh received support from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other members of the INDIA bloc. The strike was called by 21 organizations across the country in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on August 1, which allowed states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the purpose of granting quotas. The Supreme Court’s decision aims to benefit the more underprivileged castes within these groups.