Restoring peace: Bihar CM shares his strategies to combat crime

Nitish Kumar says he always wanted to visit Mazar-e-Quaid.

KARACHI:

The chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, has said that India and Pakistan, which share common history and culture, can work jointly to bring peace in the South Asian region.

Kumar, who is on a weeklong trip to Pakistan, shared policies of good governance that his government has introduced in Bihar. He was addressing a seminar on ‘Sharing experiences of Sindh and Bihar’ held at Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Banquet Hall at the Chief Minister House.

“When I came to power seven years back, my primary concern was governance and the law and order situation. I took action irrespective of how criminals were politically, socially and financially influenced,” said Kumar, who belongs to India’s Janata Dal (United) party.

“With this effort, we have brought back peace and tranquillity to our cities and towns. Criminals are now in hiding,” he added. Kumar said that speedy trials in courts and strong prosecution against criminals have brought crime under control in his state, which was previously volatile.

Kumar also shared how the state government promoted girls’ education in Bihar. “We announced free girls’ education and provided them with uniforms and syllabus, but the schools were far-off from villages. Now we have started giving free transport facility to girls by providing them with free bicycles. This has yielded positive results,” he added.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah emphasised the achievements and progress of his government and briefed the Indian delegation on progress made in various social and economic sectors.

According to him, the law and order situation in Karachi was not that bad, but “hype” was being created to make it look so. Thousands of people come to Karachi daily, and foreign investors are investing billions of dollars for the development of the Thar Coal project, he said.

Earlier, the Indian delegation visited the mausoleum of the Quaid-e-Azam and laid a floral wreath on it. Kumar said he had always wanted to visit Mazar-e-Quaid in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2012.