The Patna High Court on Wednesday asked the Bihar government how school students are being involved in the proposed human chain and how traffic on the highways will be blocked during the programme. The government has planned a mega event by organising the “world’s longest human chain” on January 21 to create awareness of prohibition.
Hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by a non-governmental forum, a Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh asked the State government “under which provision the school students are being involved in the human chain and the State highways and national highways will be blocked for traffic during the programme.”
The court has asked the government to respond to the questions on Thursday.
Above Class 5
The government had earlier said that students only above Class 5 would participate in the human chain and traffic on the highways would be stopped two hours before and after the event. The human chain is scheduled to be organised between 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. on January 21 across the State.
Over two crore people are expected to join their hands, spreading over 11,000 km. The photography of the event will be done by three ISRO satellites, helicopters and drones, said Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to participate in the 45-minute programme at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan.
BJP’s view
Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi too said school children should be kept away from the event. However, in different parts of the State, government school students were seen doing rehearsal of the event on roads. Huge billboards and hoardings appealing people to join the human chain could be seen all across the State.
