Gaya, May 24: It’s the “Bhakti” movement again, but this time a police officer is heading it and not a saint.
The senior officer, who himself hails from Uttar Pradesh, has prepared a “roadmap” to give concrete shape to the “mission”.
He has urged people from the state to work tirelessly for 10 years without expecting any rewards. By doing this, the officer believes that Bihar will be back “at the top”.
Pandey has sent a set of three pamphlets to the press, one of which can be regarded as the campaign’s manifesto.
Copies of the pamphlets are distributed wherever the DIG goes for official work. Posters, too, have appeared across Gaya town.
The first pamphlet demands that Bihar be renamed Magadh and Patna Patliputra. If Madras can be called Chennai, Bombay Mumbai and Calcutta Kolkata, then what is the harm in referring to Patna as Patliputra, argues Pandey.
“Magadh naam ho ab Bihar ka, Patliputra bane Patna, koti koti jan ki ankhon mein tair raha hein yeh sapna (let Bihar be called Magadh and Patna Patliputra: this is the dream floating in every eye),” the pamphlet reads.
The officer rues that Bihar’s crime situation is “over-projected” and shown in a manner which suggests there is no crime in any other state. So the time has come, declares the pamphlet, to launch a movement that will stop the “misinformation” campaign and show the world Bihar’s true potential.
In an attempt to remove misconceptions and prejudices about Bihar, a seminar will be held in Patna involving intellectuals from across the country.
Curiously, as pointed out by sceptics, Pandey’s supervision note in the Rajdhani accident directs the investigating officer to find out if the railway divisional engineer who declared the Dhawa bridge (the site of the mishap) damaged and recommended repairs a few months before the tragedy was in any way involved in the case.
Such a move implies that a person can be put under the scanner just for being a Bihari, they argue.
Asked about the apparent contradiction between his “love for Bihar” and “suspicious” attitude, Pandey said not much should be read into the directive.
Borrowing phrases from quarters as varied as the Hindutva brigade and communists, Pandey has appealed to Bihari sub-nationalism with slogans like “Garv se kahon hum Bihari hein” and “Duniya bhar ke Bihari ek ho”.Arvind Pandey, the deputy inspector-general of police (Magadh range),
has launched the “Bihar Bhakti Andolan” in a bid to “revive” the once-glorious state.
The senior officer, who himself hails from Uttar Pradesh, has prepared a “roadmap” to give concrete shape to the “mission”.
He has urged people from the state to work tirelessly for 10 years without expecting any rewards. By doing this, the officer believes that Bihar will be back “at the top”.
Pandey has sent a set of three pamphlets to the press, one of which can be regarded as the campaign’s manifesto.
Copies of the pamphlets are distributed wherever the DIG goes for official work. Posters, too, have appeared across Gaya town.
The first pamphlet demands that Bihar be renamed Magadh and Patna Patliputra. If Madras can be called Chennai, Bombay Mumbai and Calcutta Kolkata, then what is the harm in referring to Patna as Patliputra, argues Pandey.
“Magadh naam ho ab Bihar ka, Patliputra bane Patna, koti koti jan ki ankhon mein tair raha hein yeh sapna (let Bihar be called Magadh and Patna Patliputra: this is the dream floating in every eye),” the pamphlet reads.
The officer rues that Bihar’s crime situation is “over-projected” and shown in a manner which suggests there is no crime in any other state. So the time has come, declares the pamphlet, to launch a movement that will stop the “misinformation” campaign and show the world Bihar’s true potential.
In an attempt to remove misconceptions and prejudices about Bihar, a seminar will be held in Patna involving intellectuals from across the country.
Curiously, as pointed out by sceptics, Pandey’s supervision note in the Rajdhani accident directs the investigating officer to find out if the railway divisional engineer who declared the Dhawa bridge (the site of the mishap) damaged and recommended repairs a few months before the tragedy was in any way involved in the case.
Such a move implies that a person can be put under the scanner just for being a Bihari, they argue.
Asked about the apparent contradiction between his “love for Bihar” and “suspicious” attitude, Pandey said not much should be read into the directive.
==================
RANJAN RITURAJ SINH
0 comments:
Post a Comment