'Bihari' has become an abuse

In my earlier blog on Bihar, I had written about how Bihar was rich both culturally as well as naturally. I had also mentioned how the word ‘Bihari’ has become slang in delhi. In Mumbai, North Indian from UP and Bihar are referred as “Bhaiya”. In an article in The Times of India, Mohammed Wajihuddin speaks about how Nitin Chanra responded to Raj Thackeray’s violence with a film. Nitin rightly says that Biharis could have escaped the sustained humiliation in Maharashtra, Delhi and Assam if the country’s planners had done justice to the state. I had mentioned in my earlier blog how freight equalization deprived Bihar any major industrial growth. Moreover, the meager income too vanished after the creation of Jharkhand. Most of the industries and natural resources are located in Jharkhand state now. After the creation of Jharkhand, there was a popular joke in Patna that Bihar was left with Lalu, balu (sand/dust) and baadh (flood).

I remember how I smiled when I heard that song. A noted music company took the advantage of the creation of Jharkhand and came out with a beautiful song whose message was that now everything is over, gone are the days of eating sweets, dry fruits and so on. Now the time for Biharis has come to eat just sweet potatoes. The meaning was simple; all the revenue earning resources have gone after the creation of Jharkhand.

Nitin Chandra also points out the basic difference between Biharis and Maharashtrians. I should mention here that traditionally Bihar had been culturally rich and people here have shown great mental characteristics. Who can forget the hero of 1857 Babu Kunwar Singh! Government’s lack of interest in developing Bihar and Biharis tough mental has increased the migration of people from Bihar to other states in search for livelihood. The fact is that the hungry farmers in Maharashtra are committing suicide while the equally deprived farmers in Bihar, instead of killing themselves, migrate to cities like Mumbai and Delhi and many other places.