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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