Bihar… on the road to freedom

Smita Mishra

In ancient times the highest punishment for any crime was banishment. Rama was exiled, Pandavas banished, Muhammad forced to migrate and Jesus spent precious years of his childhood in hiding, far away from Bethlehem. When people leave their land and settle down somewhere else, they are not happy tourists – they are “intruders” and “interlopers”. Food, employment and safety are the compulsions that drive people away from their homes. To show intolerance towards them and to scoff at them is sadism and insensitivity. But one should not forget that sometimes even they leave their land to settle somewhere else who are “conquerors”. They who have never left their beloved homes but for occasional pleasure tours cannot feel the pain and agony of those living away from their native clime. The tragedy of our times is that most of us are half believers, half learners and half thinkers. In almost all the things from food to fashion, we actually follow a trend. If 70% people think pizzas are hot, they are and if another 70% think that Biharis are an abhorrent lot, they must be! Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta are crowded not because of population pressure but because of Biharis. There are few seats in educational institutions because of Biharis; there is limited vacancy in jobs and services also because of Biharis. They encroach everywhere! Why -- because everyone says so! But we never exert our minds to think that to be in a college or to be in a service there are a series of exams to be cleared and how can such huge percentage of “stupid” Biharis mange that? They don’t even know how to speak, how to dress! See how Lalu Yadav dresses and speaks! In mocking the style and dressing of Lalu, the myopic Generation X has completely forgotten that the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad was also a Bihari. That Ashoka, Chandragupta, Sher Shah, Kunwar Singh, Swami Sahjanad Saraswati, Jai Prakash Narayan, Sri Krishna Sinha, Mazhar-ul-Haque and Ramdhari Singh Dinkar were all Biharis. Not only that, tenth Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, the Indian Rupee and the Ashoka Chakra have Bihar as their birthplace. The stigma attached to Bihar is reflected in the treatment given to the Biharis in other states. I may have spent months toiling over Marlow, Spencer and Shakespeare to secure distinction in my university exams but anywhere in the country my result means nothing as it is from a college in Bihar! The positive comments that I get on my Bihar nativity include: “You don’t look like a Bihari”, “You don’t speak like one”! I wonder how Biharis look! I haven’t seen any with horns or tail. And as far as accent is concerned, the people of Eastern UP and Bihar have a singsong tinge in their tones and history says that this is from the influence of Vedic hymns. Besides, every state has its own phonetics and linguistic leanings and so does Bihar! The name of the first CM (and a very amusing name it was) that I was made to learn in the lower primary was that of Sri Lalu Prasad Yadav. I did not know that for another 15 years I would not have to memorize any other name. I spent my entire school and college life studying in kerosene lamp thinking that this is the way everyone studies. I never went to the movies alone, was escorted by someone to college and was not allowed to go to the market unless it was compulsory. But I actually did not mind. I thought this is how it happens with girls everywhere. The world is not a safe place after all! I loved the bumpy ride to our farmhouse, always hoping that the wheels of our car would be caught in some large pothole so that I would walk the remaining distance along the muddy road, splashing water all the way! In the innocence of my childhood I did not realize that I had completely missed the comfort of smooth metalled roads. I had grown up in Bihar where, to the world, there was no governance but ‘jungle raj’. I don’t defend Bihar. The state that carried the legacy of Nalanda and Vikramshila became the seat of ‘Charwaha Vidalaya’ and of universities with absentee teachers and rogue students. The state, which gave the country its first organized municipal council, its first animal hospital and its first Grand Trunk road, has not been able to preserve its past legacy. Instead, Bihar became a chart buster in all the ills and negatives. Infant and maternal mortality, illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, low life expectancy and domestic violence are highest in the state. All one needs to do is closely examine any official government data and Bihar can be located easily -- at the bottom of every list, except population of course! A very sad period of decline this state has witnessed. When I read about the destruction of the rich handicrafts of Bengal due to the imperialistic policy of the British, I often think of the rusting machines of the silk mills of Bhagalpur that once spun the famous golden tussar or the sad poverty stricken faces of the Madhubani artists, who once thrived on state patronage. The worst part is that this dreadful downward fall began in independent India! There is a general view that teachers, police, doctors and government officials are all corrupt in Bihar. The entire system is rotten there. But why do people of this very state work hard everywhere else, earn name and fame, and money -- and become dishonest once they are back home! The answer is – due to poverty and lack of opportunity. When you have nothing to eat, your first instinct would be to steal. Why would any one work if he is not paid his due salary for years? How can the police who are not even provided with proper uniforms fight criminals equipped with high-tech weapons? Caste, which has been held responsible for all backwardness in Bihar, is a phenomenon everywhere. But at no other place it has been so lucratively exploited by politicians as here. The caste armies that resort to killing and massacre are nothing but small power centers with vested political and economy interests. No place is heaven and Bihar no hell otherwise Nithari would not have taken place in Noida in Uttar Pradesh or Godhra in Gujarat. Bihar has no naturally or intrinsically ingrained problem within its fabric. It is the simple case of mal-administration, bad governance or to be more exact, no government! It is no exaggeration if we say that for years it has experienced complete ‘gunda raj’. But I think the picture is not completely dismal now. I have friends who report that the state is on way of a slow but steady makeover. Change is seen everywhere -- from government offices to schools colleges and hospitals. Situation of electricity, roads and transportation has also improved considerably. As the country stands on the threshold of its 61st year of independence and good news pouring in from all quarters, my heart silently echoes a hope for the peace and progress of my native land… Like an accursed saint My native heaven Thou hast seen and felt For long the pain… But time has come And thou shalt rise From age old sleep As dawn unfolds…