This too is “RACISM”.

Today accidently enough while checking out India’s score against SriLanka, I tuned in to one of the news channels which was staging a debate on “Regionalism Vs Nationalism” in the aftermath of a sickening statement by a morally retarded politician and followed violence against a particular community (termed “North Indians” this time ). Kudos! I said. One more good reason to divide the country when we are all shouting this widely spelled term called “Globalization” at the peak of our voices. And why do we feel attacked and assaulted when someone calls us “Racist”? (The recent Harbhajan - Symonds episode)…. We are “Racists”! …. And we are proud to be so … It’s just that we are not ready to accept but it has been our legacy.

I do not know the precise definition of “Racism” but basically it’s “discrimination or prejudice based on race”. Recently, I was introduced by one of my friends to a group of his friends with a rather unintentional teasing remark in the end that “he is a Bihari”. Well! Of course I am … but I was not able to appreciate this comment at that point of time. It’s absolutely not that I do not feel pride in my roots. It’s also not that I want to skip out of an image of a common “Bihari” and turn sophisticated. It’s just that I expect someone to use this term with a degree of respect which to my utter dismay I have never been able to realize in practical experiences. And let’s face it! “Bihari” is an abuse which is widely used by a bunch of arrogant and irrational people living in some of these metros for taxi-drivers and hawkers who according to them have dirtied their land and should be kicked out for a better and healthier social living. And did I say just a bunch of supercilious people? Well there are a few intellectuals as well who have very well turned on national debates in the past. Khuswant Singh, the well known author who had resigned his Rajya Sabha seat after “Operation Blue-Star” is definitely not a clown. His comment that people from Bihar and UP are spoiling Punjab had been a cause of discussion in parliament. And there are numerous such instances to quote. Mohammad Azharuddin, the ex-Indian captain once reacted saying “Biharis are thieves” on getting his cap stolen by a fan while playing a cricket match in Jamshedpur. Ironically, he himself ended up betraying his country in match-fixing episodes turning out to be a traitor. And I definitely need not mention what keeps on happening in Assam and Maharashtra.

I have had experiences of my encounter with this highly opinionated class of people. All they think is Biharis are rough, rude and ill-mannered people who drive taxis or own foot-path shops in Delhi and Mumbai with the exception of a few who crack civil services or become politicians. And that’s what they think about Bihar as well. And all the time I hear these people showing disrespect to the terms “Bihari” and “Bihar”, my heart yearns in pain and I feel like attacked personally. Am I not polished and understated like them? Yes I am …. Can’t I speak good English? Forget it … I have seen lots of them exhibiting their sickening sense of the language at public places in these metros just because they have to show off ( the good old aphorism ..”All that is English is rich and civilized”), Am I not educated? Well! I am a software engineer with Microsoft... Do I need to mention more? At all these occasions I feel like racially abused the same way an average Indian feels when ill-treated on a foreign land. In fact, what Bihar is on the map of India, is India on the world-map. How does it feel like to an average Indian when Mr. L.K. Advani or bollywood actor Bipasha Basu is ill-treated in US and when Punjabis in Canada are abused and insulted, the Canadian government recently banning the use of “Kaur” as surname being an example? And do you know why we are insulted? We, as Indians are insulted for the same reason you insult a Bihari in India - for grabbing away jobs, for driving cabs and for owning shops and dhabas. India and Indians have a rich culture. Agree! Remember Manoj Kumar singing that song in the movie “Purab aur Paschim”, ”Zero diya mere Bharat ne, Duniya Ko Tab Ginti Aayi “……. you feel Proud to listen to the song.. Isn’t it? So the next time you feel like abusing “Bihar” and “Biharis” , better take into account these facts:

· Three major religions of this world have flourished in Bihar namely Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. Patna is the birthplace of Guru-Govind Singhji … ( Khushwant Singh should better know this) . Buddha had got his enlightenment in BodhGaya, Buddhism being the fourth largest religion in the world. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism was born in Vaishali , Bihar.
· Modern Bihar has originated from the kingdom of ‘Magdha’ where the Guptas and Mauryas ruled during the “Golden age of ancient Indian History”. Famous mathematicians like Aryabhatta and “Bhaskara”( who invented numerology and “Zero”) studied and researched in Patliputra in the dying years of Gupta Empire.
· “Nalanda University” situated in Bihar is the oldest university of the world where students from the whole of Central and East Asia came to study some 1600 years ago. Chinese travelers “Fa-Hien” and “Huen-Tsang” who came to study here have left the only scripted proof of the “Maurya Dynasty”.
· Undivided Bihar (comprising of Jharkhad) had most of the mineral resources this country has. So all those arrogant fools who think Biharis are eating away their resources in Mumbai and Delhi should better study some economics that how they are benefiting from the resources Bihar is providing to the country. But why would they? I know many of them who eat biryani in a five star hotel without knowing that rice is grown in the farms.
· Do you know that the first president of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad was from Bihar? And that the nationalist movements in India started with the “Champaran Movement” in Bihar. And that Bihar has been the center of these nationalist movements ever since (JP’s Movement)? And that it’s a land of great Hindi poets like Ramdhari Singh Dinkar and Nagarjun? Well better do not know because every time you make a racist remark against “Bihar”, you are abusing these great people.

It’s true that the recent politics in the state and the land disputes have left people jobless and deprived, violence due to caste disputes has resulted into a degraded civic sense but that is mostly due to illiteracy and poverty. And I can give lot of statistics to prove that Delhi tops in the count of rapists and women assaulters. So, the so called civilized people, please stop acting like you are the only ones whoe deserve to live in these big cities,, and next time you shout “racism” on getting your ass kicked in US or Canada, think how ill-behaved you are to the people back home. Stop abusing “Poor and illiterates” ……. This too is “RACISM”.