Munna Shukla the criminal? Please call him Dr Munna Shukla

By Manoj Kumar Munna Shukla. Does it ring a bell? If you are familiar with the gangs of Bihar, it should. He is a former JD(U) MLA serving the life sentence in the murder of Brij Bihari Prasad, a minister in Rabri Devi’s government. Criminal Munna bhai, did you just mutter that under the breath? Please show some respect. He is Dr Munna Shukla now. Life behind bars is doing strange things to the high profile gangsters of Bihar. They have suddenly turned to research and a few of them have earned doctorate degrees. The topics of research for some deal with peace and non-violence. For the uninitiated, all of them are convicted in serious offences, including murder, kidnapping, extortion and loot.[caption id=“attachment_374884” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jailed scholars. Getty Images[/caption] Munna Shukla alias Vijay Kumar Shukla, serving his sentence in the high-security Muzaffarpur jail, has been awarded the doctorate degree for his research work ‘Expression of Political Awareness in Hindi Novels’. On Friday last, he was brought from the jail to appear before a team of experts from BR Ambedkar University, Muzaffarpur, for interview. Subsequently, he was awarded the doctoral degree. He is not the only jailbird to achieve this distinction. Earlier, former RJD parliamentarian Mohammad Sahabuddin, who was once notorious as ‘Shahabu AK-47’, was awarded the doctorate degree from the same university. The once mighty criminal-politician has done his research on relevance of coalition politics in the country. He is serving time in north Bihar’s Siwan jail since November 2005 after being sentenced to life in the kidnapping and murder of a political leader. He is an accused in over 50 cases of crime, which include murder, kidnapping, extortion, vehicle theft and treason. Another dreaded gangster-turned-politician awarded the doctorate degree is Sunil Pandey. Pandey, who faces at least 30 cases of crime and is currently out on bail, has done research on ‘Relevance of Mahavir’s Preaching in Today’s Time’. He says Mahavir, like Buddha, was a messenger of peace and non-violence. A lawmaker from the JD(U), Pandey hit the headlines when his name figured in the kidnapping of prominent Patna neurologist Ramesh Chandra but he denies terrorising decent citizens. Recently, his name was dragged into the killing of Barmeshwar Singh alias Mukhiya, the self-styled chief of Ranvir Sena, a private army of upper caste landlords. “The mythological Ram, too, killed the demon king Ravana. Lord Krishna slew Kansa, a tyrant. Why don’t you call them criminals?” he bluntly replies on being asked why he chose the peace-loving Mahavira as the subject for his book. “If killing tyrants is a crime, then I’m a criminal.” A few of the gangster-politicians have even turned authors while in jail. One such politician is Anand Mohan, a former parliamentarian, whose life term was upheld by the Supreme Court yesterday. He was charged with and convicted in the murder of Gopalganj DM G Krishnaiah. His collection of poems Qaid mein azad kalam (Free Pen in Prison) hit the stands recently. It is an anthology of the poems he composed during his incarceration, published by Rajkamal Prakashan. “The poems in this collection reflect various facets of his personal life, with his views on politics, religion and his career,” said one of his close relatives. Pappu Yadav, another strongman in jail, looking for a publisher for a book on his political life titled Sau juta maro par bahubali mat kaho (Hit Me with Shoes 100 Times but Don’t Call Me a Strongman). The police stumbled upon the manuscript when they recently raided Patna’s Beur jail, where Yadav is lodged. Yadav, a former parliamentarian from Lalu Prasad’s RJD, has been awarded life term in the assassination of CPI(M) leader Ajit Sarkar by a special CBI court.