Nitish chides Soren for triggering language row

Bihar and Jharkhand were one till 2000 and remain like ‘brothers’. I can’t understand the political compulsions for raking up an unseemly row, said Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday took exception to his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren’s bid to rake up a language row and said he could not understand compulsions behind sowing the seed of hatred against the people of the parent state.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar (HT File)

Talking to media persons after his customary Janata Darbar, where people meet the CM with their grievances, Kumar said people of Bihar and Jharkhand have love and respect for each other. “Bihar and Jharkhand were one till 2000 and remain like ‘brothers’. I can’t understand the political compulsions for raking up an unseemly row,” said the Bihar CM.

In an interview to HT, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren had said Bhojpuri and Magahi were borrowed languages from Bihar and those speaking these languages had abused tribal women and activists spearheading the campaign for creation of Jharkhand.

Kumar disputing Soren’s claim. “Languages can’t be restricted through the boundaries. There are some areas where people speak Bengali and others where people have accent of UP,” said the Bihar CM.

Congress leaders from Bihar and Jharkhand too disputed Soren’s claim. Bihar Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra said the language row was uncalled for. Jharkhand Congress leader Furkan Ansari said the state’s heart was not that small that it could not accommodate languages like Bhojpuri, which is abundantly spoken in parts the state bordering Bihar.

CM Kumar, meanwhile, said vaccination would be carried out at greater pace in coming days. “Along with the vaccination, the state government had intensified testing for Covid. Special focus is being given for testing for those coming from high incident states,” said the CM.

.