Patna,(BiharTimes): Now with chief minister Nitish Kumar finally receiving an invitation from the Union Human Resources Development Minister, M Pallam Raju, he decided to attend the inaugural function of the off-campus branch of the Aligarh Muslim University at Kishanganj on Jan 30.

But the state media cell incharge of the Congress Party, Prem Chand Mishra, has sought public apology from the chief minister for making an issue of nothing and for abusing the Congress party and its leadership for no rhyme or reason.

He said in a statement that the entire drama was enacted by Nitish Kumar to earn cheap popularity. The chief minister had called the Congress party ‘dangai’ and used some choicest abuses when there was no scope for it. Nitish went on to criticize the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi even when the party has bailed his government out after the split in the NDA last June, Mishra said.

Nitish-Congress war of words notwithstanding the truth is that both wanted to make a political capital out of the inauguration of the AMU campus. What is strange is that Nitish would share dais with the same Congress leader, whom he publicly abused, two days back.

But there is no denying the fact that the Bihar CM had overplayed the issue. Political observers are almost unanimous that the way Nitish bungled the AMU land issue he is not going to get either the Muslim or Hindu votes of the region.

“If Bihar government has given land than who else should give it––Bengal or Assam. After all AMU centres in Murshidabad and Kerala started long back because the land issues were settled much earlier there,” a reputed local leader, who wished not to be quoted, said.

What Nitish failed to explain is that why it took so long for him to give land. While addressing a function at Madarsa Shamshul Hoda at Patna in November 2012 former Vice Chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council, Maulana Wali Rahmani, openly asked the chief minister, who was sitting there, as to why the land issue in Kishanganj had become a bone of contention. As the crowd clapped Nitish was visibly upset and failed to give any answer.

The truth is that the Aligarh land issue is the one card which has backfired on Nitish Kumar. The proposal to set up five centres (later two more were added) outside Aligarh was taken in 2008 when the UPA-I was in power and when Arjun Singh was the Union HRD minister, and M A A Fatmi of RJD the minister of state. In fact Fatmi has done his engineering from AMU and today he is not taking any credit.
The place selected for the centre was Katihar, but Nitish deliberately insisted and forced the Centre to shift it to Kishanganj. The motive was political. Katihar was the former parliamentary constituency of Tariq Anwar, while Kishanganj was the stronghold of Maulana Asrar-ul-Haque, the present Congress MP, and Taslimuddin, the then RJD MP. So Nitish tried his level best to create a division among the three leaders.

Whether an off campus branch of a central university opens in Katihar or neighbouring Kishanganj was not at all an issue for the local people. Nitish did the same with the Central University of Bihar. When the Centre decided to open it in Gaya on its own defence ministry land he repeatedly insisted to open in Motihari. However, this time the Centre agreed to open CUBs in both the places.

Similarly, the Nalanda University is the brainchild of former President A P J Abdul Kalam but the Bihar chief minister behaved in such a manner as if it is the state government which is opening it.

However, in case of AMU centre the Janata Dal (United)’s alliance partner, the BJP, then strongly opposed the move to open any such university in Kishanganj on the plea that it would encourage infiltration from Bangladesh. What they failed to explain is how (?) because a similar centres have been opend in Murshidabad in West Bengal and in Assam.

The BJP’s students’ wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), gave a call of Bihar bandh, marched to the Bihar Assembly and staged protest demonstrations to oppose the opening of the centre of AMU. Later some of its leaders said that they had no problem if the centre is opened in neighbouring, Katihar.

But then who had asked Nitish to give land in Kishanganj. The original proposal was already Katihar. Why was the land made the whole issue by the then two constituents of the NDA. “While the one wanted to consolidated the Muslim votes the other did so for Hindu votebank. Finally, Nitish was caught in the middle and had to pay the price,” said former Urdu journalist and noted social activist, Naiyer Fatmi.

The AMU was initially not satisfied with the land earmarked for it. Then several tribals claimed that the land allotted to the university in fact belonged to them. The BJP openly backed their cause with Nitish Kumar unable to do anything.

On October 12, 2011 Muslims staged a big protest and jammed the rail and road routes in Kishanganj and adjoining districts to press their demand for the early allotment of land for the AMU centre. They were led by Maulana Asrar ul Haque, Tariq Anwar, RJD MLA, Akhtar-ul-Iman, and a few other Congress MLAs of Bihar.

As Congress MP of West Bengal, Deepa Das Munshi, Trinamool Congress MLA, Abdul Karim Chaudhary and two Forward Bloc MLAs also took part Nitish took strong exception to it and termed it as interference.

Anyway the AMU got the land and the centre has finally been inaugurated. But after much delay and long struggle by the Muslim community and AMU itself.

“It is not only the land issue of AMU which generated heat. The establishment of CUBs and acquisition of land for Nalanda University were also marred by controversy. Perhaps, Nitish Kumar thinks that by making the issue controversial he would score political point. But it seems that he is overplaying politics,” said a commentator, on condition of anonymity.