It is an irony of a sort. How can a state government, which had recently spent Rs 134 crore on the construction of Buddha Smriti Park in Patna not afford to provide proper security to the sanctum santorum of the Buddhists of the world, Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya?

Chief minister Nitish Kumar invited none else but Dalai Lama to inaugurate Buddha Smriti Park on May 27, 2010. In return His Holiness showered praise on him.

It is other thing that heavy rain in the monsoon of 2011 caused seepages at several place in this brand new structure and exposed the quality of work.

However, there was no dearth of critics, who opposed the construction of the Park, just a furlong away from Patna junction railway station, on the land where once Bankipore Jail used to be.

While a noted Sadhu had then strongly criticized the authorities’ decision to demolish a Shiva Temple inside the then jail premises to build this Park, some activists moved the court on the plea that in a secular country no government can build any religious structure.

Anyway the Park came up at a very important location in the state capital. Nitish’s image certainly got a boost in the Buddhist world.

Then there is another story, that is related to the 10-day Kalchakra Puja held in Bodh Gaya between January 1 and 10, 2012. There was complete mismanagement, chaos and anarchy everywhere in the township. There were piles of filth, mud and garbage all over the place. There were acute shortage of toilets and power and electricity supply virtually collapsed. This special prayer was attended by lakhs of pilgrims from 63 countries. None else it was the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama, who led the prayer. Noted Bollywood star, Richard Gere, prime minister of Tibetan government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, and VIPs from all over the world converged to Bodh Gaya. The state government failed utterly.

So if there was complete disorder in the organization of this global event, notwithstanding alerts and IB inputs the security of this World Heritage Site was primarily left at the hand of private security guards. Thus it raises a question over the seriousness of the state government.

Nitish Kumar, like many other politicians, has a knack for publicity. Perhaps the construction of the Buddha Smriti Park in the heart of Patna––which otherwise has very few places of attraction for tourists––was a good public relation exercise. The idea was an instant hit.

On the other hand managing the day-to-day affairs––be it at Bodh Gaya or anywhgere else––needs constant efforts and managerial skill. This is what is called governance and it is for everyone to judge how good the Bihar government is on this front.

Converting the mansions or bungalows of a handful of corrupt officers into schools for poor children in Patna gets enormous media publicity. But who cares to check rampant corruption and loot all over the state. Is it that the corrupt officers only live in Patna and in no other place. The fact is that any such action against any official in a small town will not get media coverage.

Today the BJP is busy exposing the Nitish Kumar government. But the big question is as to who allowed him to become so.

Mahabodhi Temple was never properly protected in the last seven and a half years when the saffron party ministers used to roam about in beacon-fitted cars. Why were they not remind about it then?
They were in power when Kalchakra Puja took place.

It was none else but the saffron party leaders and the mediapersons, who had sketched larger than life image of the chief minister.

But BJP can be excused as it is a political party and politicians do change colour at the drop of a hat. Now the Congress is doing almost the same to Nitish.

But what was the media doing all these years? Today they are working overtime and coming up with sensational stories and different angles. One English TV channel journalist even climbed over the wall of Mahabodhi Temple––and that too when Nitish Kumar was visiting it after the blasts on Sunday––to show to the world how vulnerable it is.

May one ask as to whether any other TV channel had shown this fact to the viewers before the July 7 blasts? After the incident everyone becomes wise and smart. But the problem is that some of us are too smart by half.

But then there are some in the Fourth Estate, who did try to call spade a spade. About four years back a senior Hindi journalist filed a story raising some uncomfortable questions on the construction of Buddha Smriti Park. More than the editor it was the management of that prominent daily which got it spiked for obvious business interest.