3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Fresh push for Bharat Ratna to Bhikhari Thakur
Patna: Over five decades after his death in 1971, calls to posthumously confer the Bharat Ratna on Bhikhari Thakur, the legendary Bhojpuri literary and cultural icon, grew louder on Sunday.
BJP MP and Bhojpuri film star Manoj Tiwari, in a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, urged that the highest civilian honour be awarded to Thakur (1887-1971). No political voices from
Bihar
expressed any objection.
Thakur, born in Qutubpur Diara village in Saran district, was a barber by caste and lacked formal education. He migrated to then Calcutta, where he absorbed the struggles of migrant workers and began writing.
His first published work, 'Batohiya' (1912), was followed by 'Achhoot Ki Shikayat', based on the life of Hira Dom. He authored 29 books in total.
Known for his poignant portrayals of migration, Thakur became a poet, playwright, singer and folk performer. His best-known play, Bidesia, captures the pain of separation in a migrant's household.
"Bhikhari Thakur belongs to Bhojpuri, but he is Bihar's cultural symbol.
by Taboola
by Taboola
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He proved that dialect-based literature can be powerful. He deserves the Bharat Ratna," said BJP's Prem Ranjan Patel.
RJD's Chitranjan Gagan recalled how Thakur's iconography emerged in the 1990s when Lalu Prasad had a statue installed in Chapra. Other statues stand in Ara and his native village.
In Dec 2023, the Nitish Kumar govt named an auditorium and art gallery in Chhapra after him.
