Buxar village claims to be JP's birthplace

Darpan Singh
Patna, October 13
WHILE THE State Government has been spending a lot of money to renovate places and buildings associated with Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan whose 105th birth anniversary fell on October 11, the rundown village of Saikraul Lakh in Buxar district of Bihar where JP spent part of his childhood continues to remain in obscurity.
What is much more significant about this village, situated some 7 km from the Dumraon-Bikramganj road, is that it claims to be the actual place where JP was born.
Sitabdiara in Balia district of Uttar Pradesh is commonly acknowledged as JP’s place of birth but residents of Saikraul Lakh vehemently beg to differ. Seventy-year-old Prabhawati Devi told Hindustan Times, "Sitabdiara was part of Bihar till 1972 when the border between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was demarcated afresh. Sitabdiara is, no doubt, the native village of JP’s family but that is not where JP was born. He was born here, in Sikraul Lakh, on October 11, 1902, when his father happened to be posted in this village."
She lamented that nothing was being done to preserve JP’s memory and demanded that the collapsed structure which housed the office for which JP’s father worked should immediately be renovated as a historic building.
According to sources in the district administration, JP’s father, Harshu Dayal, was a ‘Jiledar’ at an Irrigation Department office located in the village. In the early years of the 20th Century, it was the ‘Jiledar’ who collected ‘water rent’, something that is done by circle officers today.
Sadly, Dayal’s office-cum-residence, where JP spent some of his childhood days, has almost ceased to exist. Though the office for which JP’s father worked still functions from another building close by, all that remain of the original building are collapsed walls and a roofless structure completely covered by bush and creepers. The place is now used by some villagers to stack cattle fodder.
Another villager, Krishnaji, said JP’s early schooling had also taken place in the village. He regretted that all records pertaining to JP’s schooling in the village had been lost during the floods of 1987.
Shedding more light on JP’s association with the region, an elderly villager, Gobardhan Mishra, said, “JP’s grandfather, Devakinandan Lal, who did not have a child, had sought the blessings of a saint, Harshu Bramha of Nasriganj. Nasriganj was then part of erstwhile Shahabad district which now falls in Rohtas district. No wonder, he named his son Harshu Dayal." He said JP’s father is remembered as a simple man and no one could have predicted that his son would become such a major political figure in the years to come.
Senior NCP leader and resident of the village, Ram Bihari Singh, said the State Government must take steps to give the village its due status as JP’s ‘birthplace’.

Dumraon tense but peaceful; four held

Darpan Singh

Patna/Dumraon, October 5
AN ERRIE silence prevails in Dumraon following the large-scale violence that followed a clash between members of two communities during immersion of Durga idols on Wednesday night. More than 10 persons from both the communities were injured in the violence. Property worth thousands of rupees was destroyed by a rampaging mob led by various puja committee activists. Some policemen were also injured in the mêlée. An FIR, in which four persons were named accused, was lodged in this connection and, by Thursday evening, the police had succeeded in arresting all the four. On Thursday, most areas of the town wore a deserted look as shops remained closed out of precaution and auto-rickshaws and buses kept off the roads. Most of the sub-divisional town has been converted into a police garrison with the district administration deploying cops in large numbers to prevent further disturbance. Paramilitary forces conducted a flag march to normalise the situation. Armed police from different police stations of the district, besides jawans from SAP, BMP and the CRPF, have also been deployed and Section 144 of the CrPC has been clamped on the town in view of the tense situation prevailing in the area. Shahabad DIG, Buxar DM and SP, besides other senior officials of the district administration, were camping in Dumraon to monitor the situation. On receiving information, the SP of neighbouring Bhojpur district also reached Dumraon with reinforcement. Sources said trouble started when some youths, allegedly in an inebriated condition, threw stones at a Durga idol that was being taken to Buxar for immersion and caused some damages to it. This led to a violent clash between members of the two communities that left more than 10 persons injured. Soon, a mob led by puja committee members went on the rampage and damaged several shops, rickshaws and thelas (pushcarts) belonging to a particular community. Because of the violence, several idols on way to immersion ghats were held up for hours and their procession could proceed late at night only after the intervention of IG (Admn) who spoke, on phone from Patna, to the puja committee members who had assembled at Dumraon police station. Buxar DM Rashid Ahmad Khan described the situation as ‘peaceful and under control’ and said those who had been arrested for causing the violence would be dealt with severely if found guilty. Some local people, including Vijay Rai and Manoj Kumar Singh, said the police, who had to run for cover themselves in the face of heavy brick-batting, could have averted the incident had they taken precautionary measures. Meanwhile, a peace meeting was organised at the Dumraon police station on Thursday, which was attended by the DM, SP, SDO, and the SDPO, besides former DGP R R Prasad, office-bearers of the Red Cross Society and local residents. They appealed to the people to maintain communal peace and harmony. National president of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj Ali Anwar, who hails from the trouble-torn area, attributed the incident to some anti-social elements who were out to disturb peace in the area.

Cops immune to ‘sensitive’ Dumraon

HT Correspondent
Patna/Dumraon (Buxar), October 6
THOUGH DUMRAON has begun returning to normal after the large-scale violence of Wednesday night, most residents are sore with the police for their lack of foresight. There is a general feeling here that had the police taken preventive measures in the light of some incidents of communal strife during Dussehra in the recent years, Wednesday’s violence could well have been averted. Anurag Mishra, a local, said, “We fail to understand why the police did not take adequate preventive measures when the area has been witness to violent clashes during Durga Puja nearly every year in the recent past.” Another Dumraon resident, Kamlesh Singh, said it was no use turning the place into a police garrison when peace in the area had already been disturbed. During the Puja celebrations in 2003, many people were injured and property worth thousands of rupees was damaged in a series of violent clashes between members of the two communities at Naya Bhojpur area of the sub-division. At that time, too, the police had completely failed to sense the gravity of the situation, though there had been reports of large numbers of people from adjoining villages ‘mobilising’ for what they said would be a ‘decisive battle’. In the same month in 2003, a youth was killed at a place under Simri police station of Dumraon sub-division following an altercation over space for performing puja. A few days prior to these incidents, the young son of a village up-mukhiya was gunned down in a puja pandal where idols were still being given the finishing touches. The killing took place following a clash between members of two communities at village Banni. In 2004, Dussehra celebrations turned bloody at Koran Sarai village of Dumraon sub-division when a 1000-strong mob indulged in violence and fought a pitched battle with policemen. While one person was killed in police firing in that incident, nearly 25 policemen sustained injuries in the brickbatting that was resorted to by the mob protesting the arrest of a local Congress leader. Around a dozen police vehicles were also damaged in the violence. During last year’s puja festivities, Naya Bhojpur witnessed large-scale communal disturbance. A senior police officer of Buxar district admitted that some areas in Dumraon sub-division had, in the recent past, become ‘communally sensitive’. He, however, maintained that no special measures by the administration would work until people themselves learnt to live in peace and harmony.

Youth behind bars to shield employer’s son

Darpan Singh
Patna, September 5
FIFTY-YEAR-old Radhika Devi is a distraught woman these days. Her son, Sanjay Rajbhar, is in jail since December 2006 for a crime that he never committed — a fact even the top police officials in the district admit. Yet, there is no hope of his release from prison in the near future even as the real culprit remains at large. Cops investigating the case keep assuring her that her son, a resident of Lala Toli under Dumraon police station of Buxar district, would be set free as soon as the real culprit was arrested.He was sent to jail to save the skin of his master’s son wanted in connection with a case of abduction and sodomy. Radhika told HT on Wednesday, “We are suffering because we are poor. My son was forced to identify himself as someone else on the pretext that he would soon be freed.” Police sources said in August 2002, an FIR (case No. 213/2002) was lodged with Buxar Town police station charging Om Prakash Tiwary alias Munna Tiwary (of village Kopwan under Koran Sarai PS of the district) with abducting and sodomising Dilip Yadav (14) in Buxar town. The victim belonged to village Neura Dera under Bihta police station of Patna district. However, Munna, son of Rameshwar Nath Tiwary, a government employee posted at Ara, could never be arrested, even as the Patna High Court rejected his anticipatory bail application. According to police, when Rameshwar, who has a house in Dumraon also, could not find a way to save his son after a local court issued property attachment orders against him in this connection, he decided to ‘use’ one of his employees, Sanjay. He asked him to surrender and go to jail impersonating Munna, promising that he would soon bail him out as his son had committed only a minor crime. Rameshwar allegedly told Sanjay’s family that he was sending him to Bhagalpur to work in a factory. When Sanjay’s family was informed by a youth that he was in Buxar Central Jail, as told by a prisoner who had just been released on bail, they approached Rameshwar. He again fooled them by saying that Sanjay was in jail in connection with a minor skirmish and he would soon bail him out. Sanjay’s father Rambadan Rajbhar said, “Rameshwar also threatened us with dire consequences if we made any hue and cry.”Suspecting foul play, they went to the jail where Sanjay met them as Munna Tiwary. When his parents failed to secure his bail, they approached the district judge here submitting that Sanjay had been made accused, chargesheeted and jailed for a crime committed by Munna. The court took cognizance and asked the Buxar cops to probe the matter and submit a report. The police, in the inquiry report submitted some six months back, admitted the lapse. In the meantime, the harried family members were summoned to court several times. A senior lawyer of the district, Prabha Tiwary, said it was not a case of mistaken identity but showed how a poor youth could be victimised. He said it was very surprising how Sanjay was arrested and kept in jail without proper verification of his identity and termed it as gross violation of human rights. Now, Sanjay’s mother and other family members have again been asked to appear in the district and sessions court here. Though Buxar SP Paresh Saxena expressed ignorance about any such case saying he was in Delhi and could confirm it only after his return, Town SHO A.B. Sahay said the court had been informed that Sanjay was innocent. He said the police were waiting for fresh court orders to arrest the real accused. He, however, failed to give any satisfactory reply as to why Sanjay was not being released once his innocence had been established.

Of different notes on different strokes!

Darpan Singh
Govindganj (East Champaran)
Noted Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari recently became a famous TV face when he, while appearing on various poll-related shows, appealed to the people of the state to desist from voting for aspirants having criminal background. He, however, did a ‘volt face’ and resorted to ‘double speak’ by campaigning for the incarcerated MLA and LJP nominee from Govindganj seat during the run up to the just concluded assembly elections.
Singing a political tune, the Bhojpuri artiste sang, danced and canvassed support for the controversial legislature seeking reelection from this constituency at about half a dozen villages, including Sarottar, Bajhiya, Khajuria and Huseni on the eve of the 3rd phase of elections. Needless to say, Rajan, currently lodged in the Buer jail, enjoys a considerable degree of muscle power in his area. Suresh Sahni, the RJD candidate who was defeated by him (Rajan) in the 2000 assembly polls, left Govindganj and contested Motihari seat this year on LJP ticket! Locals said Suresh was terrorized into contesting the Motihari seat to damage the poll prospect of RJD nominee Rama Devi, as Sahnis constitute a vast chunk of voters there.
But Manoj begged to differ. Justifying his decision to stump for the ‘controversial’ MLA, he, while addressing an election meeting at village Sarottar in Kesariya block of East Champaran district, said: “Rajanji is not a criminal. The real criminal is at the helm in Bihar who is responsible for the mess the state is today in.” However, the Bhojpuri singer, in a candid confession, admitted at another meeting: “I do not say Rajanji has a clean image. But then who does have a clean image in today’s politics? Ensure his thumping victory for the all round development of this constituency and do your bit to help Ramvilasji become the next CM of Bihar and rid the state of the RJD misrule.”
Singing paeans to the ‘Bahubali’ MLA, Manoj further said: “Prashashan ne unhe Bettiah jail se Patna shift kiya kyonki unhe pata tha ki Rajanji ki ek nigah kisi voter ko mohit karne ke liye kafi hai.” The villagers, however, had a different opinion regarding Manoj’s ‘newfound’ love for Rajan. Rakesh, a local, told this reporter that Manoj was campaigning owing to the terror tactics employed by the sitting legislature. When approached later, Manoj said he agreed to seek votes for Rajan due to a ‘very special relationship’ he shared with him, while refusing to explain the same.

Bismillah’s undying wish buried forever!

DARPAN Singh
Patna, August 21
WITH THE passing away of shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, many of his wishes have, sadly, been put to rest forever at his birthplace Dumraon. Often accused of not introducing himself as a native of Bihar, the shehnai maestro had once told this correspondent: “Koi apni paidaish ki jagah ko kaise bhool sakta hai. Meri khwahish hai ki us jagah ko ek nazar dekh loon. (How can anyone forget his place of birth? I wish I could have one last look at it before I am dead).” In the recent past, several efforts were made to bring him over to his birthplace. However, despite his keenness, this undying wish of his could never be fulfilled for one reason or another.Born on March 21, 1916, in a poor family of professional shehnai players in the employ of the erstwhile Dumraon Estate, Bismillah Khan spent his childhood playing ‘gilli danda’ near the famous Chhatiya pond. Till very recently, he would attribute his good health to the regular intake of lentils produced in Dumraon.His father, Paigambar Bux, more popularly known as Bachai Miyan, grandfather, Rasul Bux, and great-grandfather, Hussain Bux, were all employees of Dumraon Raj. He learnt the three Rs at the Urdu School located near Naya Talab. During his childhood, Bismillah Khan used to play shehnai at the Bihariji temple and get ration and Rs 1.50 for it from the Estate.His friend, Jehangir Khan, who spent his childhood with the maestro and still lives in Dumraon, recalls: “Every time he sang the Bhojpuri ‘chaita’ song — Ehi matiya mein bhulail hamar motiya he rama, (It is in this place that I lost my pearl) — at the behest of then Maharaja Keshav Prasad Singh, the temple priest would give Bismillah a ‘laddu’ weighing 1.25 kg.”Bismillah was only six when he lost his mother. Soon after, his maternal uncle took him to Varanasi which later came to be known as his workplace. In 2001, when he was awarded the Bharat Ratna, Bismillah Khan had said: “The Government, it seems, has finally begun to acknowledge the contributions made by artists of yesteryears.” However, two chief ministers of Bihar left no stone unturned to prove him wrong. During a felicitation ceremony in Patna a couple of years back, the shehnai wizard requested the then CM, Rabri Devi, to get a community hall built on his ancestral land still left in Dumraon so that it could be used for public purposes. Needless to say, despite the promise made by Rabri, the community hall never came up. And Bismillah did not hide his hurt sentiments either. Talking to this correspondent sometime back, he said, “If the Bihar Government fails to keep its promise, I am capable of getting the work done on my own. If need be, I can talk to the Prime Minister instead.” Not only this, the then CM, Lalu Prasad Yadav, way back in 1994, had laid the foundation stone of a town hall to be built at Dumraon in the shehnai maestro’s honour. However, the construction of the town hall never started. Mobarak Hussain, another octogenarian who spent his childhood with Bismillah, told the HT, “The police department, which owned the land, refused to give it for the town hall. Even the ceremonial plaque was removed the day after the foundation laying function.”Recently, one of Bismillah’s sons also expressed his displeasure over the apathetic attitude of both the State Government and the local administration towards the construction of the town hall and the community hall. Another local resident, Aslam Khan, who runs a private school at Dumraon, lamented, “Though he brought honour to the shehnai and raised its stature in the world of music through the national and international rewards that were showered on him, the people of Bihar never realised the significance of his contributions.”