A Brahmin killed M.K. Gandhi but a Muslim saved I the same Gandhi, the father of the upper caste nation. But that “nation” remained ungrateful to this Bihari Muslim despite the fact that he saved the life of the “Father of their nation”.
The Hindu, India’s chief Brahminical daily (June 28), brought out the fact of this great betrayal:
Patna: lit is an unchronicled, unpublicized, but ‘ poignant episode in the country’s freedom struggle — an event associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s agitation against the British indigo planters in Champaran district of north Bihar. It is also the story of a patriotic Indian named Batak Mian.
The British administration had hatched a conspiracy to kill the Mahatma — by administering poison — and the job was given to Battack Mian. He was employed as a cook at the quarters where the ‘Mahatma stayed.:
According to the episode brought to light by the working chairman of the State Religious and Linguistic Minorities Commission, Prof. Jabir Hussain, Battak Mian had been promised a reward if he carried out the assignment. At the same time, he was threatened with dire consequences if he failed. All he had to do was offer a cup of poisoned milk to Gandhiji. But the sense of deep patriotism and loyalty to the Mahatma prevailed over threats and allurements. Battak Mian took the cup of milk to Gandhiji but warned him not to drink it as it was poisoned. The Mahatma threw it away.
According to Prof. Hussain and the son of Battak Mian, Mr. Mohammad Jan Ansari, the country’s first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, was an eyewitness to the incident. Battak Mian was jailed and his family ruined by the British administrators for his failure to carry out the task. His land was auctioned.
Order ignored: In 1950, Dr. Rajendra Prasad instructed the Bihar Government to allot 50 acres of land to Battak Mian who was then alive. The tragedy is that the President’s orders are yet to be bd Dalit Voice implemented. Battak Mian died in 1957. His dilapidated grave can be seen in his native village, Siswan Ajgari, in East Champaran district. His family is living in abject poverty at Ewan Parsauni village in West Champaran district.
Mr. Mohammad Jan Ansari, who is now over 90, recently sought financial help from Prof.”Hussain for repairing his father’s grave and organizing an annual ‘us’ ceremony at the site.
Prof. Hussain has urged the State Government to take steps to repair Batiak Mian’s grave and open a ‘Madrasa’ with a hostel, playground and a pond to honour his memory. “If we can do this little bit to honour the memory of this unknown, unsung freedom fighter, then only we shall be honouring ourselves and our country,” Prof. Hussain told The Hindu.
