For most residents of Pakistan Tola in Bihar, the village name is an embarrassment

The Hindu

2 days ago

It is like any other village in deep rural India. Heaps of maize are let out to dry under the sun on either side of NH 31 that links Patna to Purnia. Women walk by with sacks of paddy on the head.
The harvest season is in full bloom. Most of the villagers are farmers, depending on paddy, wheat and maize for livelihood. The village is nothing but a dot in the map of Bihar, 350 km from the State capital Patna with a population of 250, but it stands out for its peculiar name — Pakistan Tola. Quirky to some, funny to many and embarrassment for most of the residents.
The village is along the 1.9-kilometre-long Kosi mahasetu (mega bridge) that connects Mithila and Kosi regions. About 10 km from Pakistan Tola, at Srinagar Chowk, Birendra Kumar, a shopkeeper, shoots off directions, 'Oh, you want to go to Pakistan. Go straight, take the first right, and you will reach Singhia Hatt (market). There, ask anyone; they will guide.' Then he adds, 'Every day we are embarrassed when anyone asks us the address of Pakistan.'
The village is flood-prone, has no roads, schools, or even a primary health centre. There are no concrete houses; most homes are built from wood and hay.
The elderly in the village say that during the partition in 1947, most of the Muslims who lived here shifted to what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Later, the Santhal tribes came from the forests and occupied the village. As the village was almost empty and its inhabitants had left for then Pakistan, the name sprung and stood for decades
Lots in name
For all the ills that had afflicted the region — poverty and lack of development — people have one thing to blame: it's name. And they want to change it.
Villagers are agitating more than ever for the name to be changed to Birsa Nagar after the tribal leader Birsa Munda, who challenged oppression of different kinds. The movement has been raging on for several years.
Ashok Kumar Hansda (58), who lives here, says, 'Two years ago, we submitted a memorandum to Srinagar BDO (Block Development Officer) with a request to change the name.' Nothing came of it, and Mr. Handsa complains that the local MLA never visits the village. 'Why is the Bihar government not serious about changing the name despite knowing that Pakistan is hated so much by Indians?' he says, feeling this hate rubs off on them.
A few years ago, the villagers removed the cemented nameplate carrying the name Pakistan Tola. Last year, they put up a temporary board on a coconut tree. It read: Birsa Nagar, Johar, Gram Panchayat Singhia, Block Srinagar, Purnia; Apka hardik swagat karta hai (welcomes you) at the entrance of the village.
Burning stigma
Raju Kumar Tudu (19), a villager, flashes his Aadhaar card. 'It is not nice when anyone identifies us with the name of Pakistan,' Mr. Tudu says, adding that people from neighbouring villages have begun to look down upon them.
Another villager, Jetha Murmu (60), says: 'Due to the name of this village, people hesitate to get their daughters and sons married to the people of Pakistan Tola. Even before the Pahalgam terrorist attack, several marriage proposals had been cancelled as no family wanted to be associated with Pakistan.'
He says this is just one more problem among many others, including low prices for yield. 'The maize we produce sells for ₹2,000 per quintal to the local traders. We have heard that in the city, 250 gm of corn costs between ₹80 and ₹100. We are left at the mercy of gods,' he says.
Even health care is poor, rather non-existent. 'There is no health facility in the village. If something happens, we have to travel 10 km for medical treatment or to purchase medicines,' says Baski, who lives in a family of 10.
Tana Kisku (25) is hunting rats. 'There is hardly anything to eat. We cannot afford two meals a day, so we hunt for survival. We are dependent on nature and the food available around,' Mr. Kisku says. In one house, a five-year-old child is eating rice mixed with water and salt. In another, a family is cooking roots and leaves foraged from the forest. Since there are no roads off the highway, plumes of dust swirl everywhere in the village.
Flip-flopping officials
Mukhiya (gram panchayat head) of Singhia panchayat Prem Prakash Mandal claims that development is taking place gradually. He claims that the district administration is taking steps to change the name of the village on Aadhaar cards.
'A few months ago, I met the BDO of Srinagar requesting him to change the name of the village on our Aadhaar cards,' Mr. Mandal says, adding that other developmental work is moving forward, though with limited resources and slowly.
'Several names from the village have been listed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (the Centre's free housing scheme for lower and middle income groups). The roads of the village will be built under the Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (the State government scheme to build roads to villages with populations over 250),' Mr. Mandal says.
Srinagar BDO Ganaur Paswan too concurs with Mr. Mandal. 'There is so much work going on at the block level and we are aware about the name of the village. People have to make the effort to visit the block office so that changes can be made in their Aadhaar card. I am not sure whether it has been changed in the government documents,' Mr. Paswan says.
An Additional District Magistrate (ADM)-level officer posted in Purnia Collectorate says that the power to change the name lies in the hands of the Panchayati Raj Department and the District Magistrate can only change it once the department allows it.
Purnia District Magistrate Kundan Kumar, who has been transferred to Nalanda a couple of days ago, did not take calls or reply to WhatsApp messages The Hindu sent, asking for the government's stand on renaming Pakistan Tola.
The Panchayati Raj Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kedar Prasad Gupta says he was not aware of the issue. 'If there is something like this, my department will take necessary action. The name of the village will surely be changed. We cannot tolerate anything in the name of Pakistan,' Mr. Gupta says.
'The issue may be more appropriately addressed through administrative and public policy mechanisms such as a gram sabha resolution followed by State-level gazette notification to rename the village,' says Ravi Kumar Singh, a Supreme Court advocate. Until then, the non-descript village shall remain quirky to some, funny to many and embarrassment for the residents.