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Patna, (Bihar Times): At the time when the Senas of
Maharashtra are repeatedly provoking the Bihari
sub-nationalism the Prime Minister of an independent
country felt proud of declaring that Bihar was his
motherland.
The Mauritius Prime Minister, Navinchandra Ramgoolam,
while speaking at the public reception at Shri Krishna
Memorial Hall in Patna on Monday said that though his
ancestors went to the Indian Ocean island nation from
Bhojpur district for him the entire Bihar was the
birth place.
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Visibly elated at the response of the audience
gathered here he showered fulsome praise on the people
of the state, especially the chief minister, Nitish
Kumar, under whose leadership, he said Bihar would
make rapid progress.
Ramgoolam spoke in Bhojpuri, the language of over 60
per cent people of his country. He thanked the people
of Bihar for such a warm welcome offered to him.
A documentary on the life of his father and the first
prime minister of that country, Sir Sewoosagur
Ramgoolam, was also shown on the occasion.
The chief minister, Nitish Kumar, said that it was the
people of Bihar who built a far-off Indian Ocean
country and ensured its independence. Biharis have
earned kudos all over the world by their sheer
hard-work. He said that today he was feeling proud and
the expression Bihari stands for shaan (respect) and
not apmaan (respect). The allusion was clearly
directed towards the Thackerays of Maharashtra.
Later the Mauritius Prime Minister unveiled the
life-size statue of the Father of the Nation of his
country, Sir Sewoosagur Ramgoolam, at the southern end
of the Gandhi Maidan––at the originating point of
Exhibition Road. The state government named the road
from J P Roundabout to the Subhash Park Sir Sewoosagur
Ramgoolam Road.
Navinchandra also paid a visit to the Khuda Bakhsh
Oriental Public Library and called it a priceless
treasure.
Earlier in the day he and his wife, Veena, was
accorded a warm welcome at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash
Narayan International Airport by chief minister Nitish
Kumar, his cabinet colleagues and senior officials.
Ramgoolam was given ceremonial guard of honour on the
occasion.
A 30-member official delegation also accompanies
Ramgoolam on his three-day tour in which he will go to
his ancestral village, Harigaon in Bhojpur district
too. Incidentally this is his first visit to Bihar,
where his roots lie.
A Bihar-Mauritius Sanskritik Utsav, a cultural
programme, was organized late in the evening at Gandhi
Maidan. It lasted till in the night. Padma Shri Dr
Sharda Sinha and Bhojpuri artiste Manoj Tiwary
exhibited their performance.
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