Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag to visit the land of his forefathers in the Bihar.


http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2013january/mauritius-_prez--12_660_010213010359.jpg

Heads of foreign governments continue to discover their roots in Bihar . After the Prime Ministers of Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago.

Purryag is scheduled to visit Wajitpur village in Punpun block of Patna district to get a feel of the place that his ancestors had left behind to sail to Mauritius decades ago. He is expected to meet his poor relatives who are still living in the nondescript village.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Purryag had expressed his desire to visit Wajitpur during his upcoming visit to India. "The state government and the locals will felicitate him in the village and organise events to commemorate his arrival," Nitish said.



Nitish, who went to Wajitpur along with a few ministers and senior officials on Monday to oversee the preparation for the visiting dignitary's trip, said it was a matter of great pride for Bihar that people from the state had climbed to the posts of President and Prime Minister in foreign countries.

"People of Indian origin account for 80 per cent of the total population of Mauritius out of which more than 50 per cent are from Bihar," the chief minister said.

"Even the father of the nation of Mauritius, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, hailed from Bihar." Nitish said that Purryag, who would be coming along with his wife Anitah Purryag, had been elected the President of Mauritius in 2012 after holding the post of the Speaker of the national assembly in his country.

The chief minister visited a school, a temple and a primary health centre in the village during his stay before going to the house of two villagers, Ganesh Mahto and Mahesh Mahto, who have been identified as Purryag's relatives.

Purryag had requested Nitish to identify his ancestral village in Bihar while the latter had gone to Mauritius after becoming the chief minister in 2007. On his return, the Bihar government officials succeeded in locating the village in Masaurhi sub-division of Patna district and also dug out the family tree of Purryag's ancestors. On the basis of it, the Mahtos from the villages were subsequently identified as his relatives.

The visit of Purryag, who will attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Sammelan in Kochi (starting January 7) during his trip to India, has enthused the village.

Ganesh Mahto, a mason by profession, said his ancestors had left the village because of the atrocities perpetrated on them by the Britishers.

He, however, said he had no idea about his family's links with the Mauritius President until a team of district administration officials came to his village last month to inform him about his visit.

The chief minister has asked the officials to build a road leading to the Mahtos' house before Purryag's visit.





source: india today





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