Identity Crisis of the Bengalis of Bihar

by BISHWAJIT SEN

It is surprising that the community which was the prime mover behind setting up of modern educational institutions in Patna, is today gripped by a deep identity crisis. R.M.R. Seminary at Khazanchi Road, was established by the great social reformer Shivnath Shastri, who belonged to the Brahmo Samaj. “Aghore Prakash Shishu Sadan” bears the memories of late Dr B.C. Roy’s (the second Chief Minister of West Bengal) parents who brought enlightenment to Bihar, by propa-gating against idol worship and superstitions. The P.N. Anglo-Sanskrit High School was established by Purnendu Narain Sinha, a great philan-thropist. The name of Mrs Sushama Sen is immortalised by Bankipore Girls’ H.S. School. There is the T.K. Ghosh Academy, where Dr Rajendra Prasad underwent schooling. Examples could be given of other towns of Bihar as well. In spite of these seminal examples, Bengalis in Bihar today do not regard Bihar as their very own soil. What could be a matter of greater concern then this?

This identity crisis has led to strange reflexes. In Langertoli of Patna is situated the “Suhrid Parishad-o-Hemchandra Granthagar”. It is a century-old institution and has got an invaluable collection of Bengali books, journals etc. But it remains perpetually closed. What is the reason? One of the office-bearers told me: “Drunkards used to sit there.” If “the drunkards used to sit there”, preventive measures could have been taken by mobilising public opinion against it. Closing down the library was no solution. This points out to a tendency of fleeing away from adverse circumstances, which has become an usual habit of Bengalis of Bihar.

How could things reach such a state? One reason of course, is the 15-year-old chaos and anarchy which prevailed in Bihar under the RJD rule. But even before that, during the regime of Bhagwat Jha Azad (Congress), Bengalis of Bhagalpur started facing onslaughts from upper-caste house-grabbers. There was a great hue and cry over these happenings, but the Bengali leadership, sadly enough, treated them as attacks on the “community”, while this was not the truth. The house of a retired IAS officer, who is very much a Bihari and kayastha by caste, was grabbed by Pappu Yadav, ex-MP, who gained notoriety by getting Ajit Sarkar (CPM) killed. Sarkar was a hugely popular leader of the Purnea masses. The house grabbed by Pappu Yadav is situated at Patna. Till date, the hapless gentleman has probably not been able to get his house vacated by Pappu Yadav’s men. Another example: a close relative of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi occupied a portion of the residence of late Shri Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, the doyen of post-independence Hindi poetry, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Dinkarji’s family threatened a hunger strike at Delhi. I am not aware if the matter has yet been sorted out. Several other examples can be given of such cases, where the properties of bonafide Biharis were grabbed by the newly rich and politically comfortable persons. So, it is not a problem of a “community” getting attacked. It is a problem of lawlessness growing and even after the departure of the RJD regime, things are not showing any signs of improvement.

One often comes across such Bengalis who left Bihar in panic, but now regret their decision. For a Bengali of Bihari origin, West Bengal is quite alien. The rush of life there is quite difficult to cope up with. There is also a rat-race, which they never came across in Bihar. Similarity of language is not everything that a person yearns for. There are other sides of life too.

If we go to the root of the Left movement in Bihar, we would find that almost all the Left parties were co-founded by Bengalis. Where did that awareness go? De-politicisation of the Left parties definitely has a role to play in this. Apart from that, Bengalis as a community were not paid attention to by the Left parties, whereas it is a fact that till now, several trade unions have Bengalis as their steadfast leaders and front-ranking cadres. Left parties could have used the revolutionary heritage of the Bengalis to their own advantage, but they did not do so.

Bengalis of Bihar should overcome the identity crisis, by making their cause the cause of all Biharis, which it actually is. They should actively participate in the movement of have-nots of Bihar, which is erupting almost every day but not succeeding because it lacks enlightened leadership. Fleeing away from Bihar is no solution. That would not solve the problem of the Bengalis. Rather, they would find themselves face to face with a still greater crisis.