Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara: Under the banner of Lohar Vikas Manch, hundreds of people of Lohar (blacksmith) community took out a procession from Gopali Chowk and reached Ara railway station under Danapur division of East Central Railways (ECR) on Monday morning and stopped 2303 Delhi-Howrah Poorva Super Fast Express and 2488 Anand Bihar-Radhikapur Superfast Express by squatting on rail track and boarding the rail engines.
Though the Bhojpur district administration had made elaborate security arrangement at Ara railway station to foil the chakka jam bid but the security personnel and even the magistrate deputed at Ara railway station remained silent spectators. The agitating people raised slogans against the Central government and demanded scraping of Act 49/2006 and correction in name of their community. As a result several long distance trains remained stranded at different railway stations under Danapur rail division. Even the daily commuters faced the wrath of the agitating people and most of them returned home and did not go to their offices at Patna. The passengers particularly women and children were the worst hit as tThey had to go without water and other necessary provisions for hours.
R K Sharma, President, Lohar Vikas Manch, said that they were forced to launch chakka jam agitation as their demands were yet to be conceded. He said the central government changed the name of their community from ‘Lohar’ (blacksmith) to ‘Lohara’ and so they could not get the benefit of reservation.