Partition wasn’t a good idea: Nitish

Kumar also appealed to the people to abstain from consuming liquor, which sneaks in through illegal routes.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the Partition of India and Pakistan was not at all a good idea and India would have progressed in a better way had both the countries remained a united entity.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during Janata Ka Darbar programme in Patna on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Kumar was talking to reporters after his weekly Janata Darbar, an event where people can raise their grievances against different departments.

Mahatma Gandhi had never wished for Partition of the country, he said.

Reacting to Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav’s statement comparing Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Kumar said the India’s freedom was not won by any individual. “It was a collective effort. There were a lot of leaders, who fought for the Independence. It was nothing surprising if Jinnah is regarded highly in Pakistan,” the CM said.

To a query about free flow of liquor in the state despite total Prohibition, Kumar said there was always a scope for breach of the law by anti-socials. “But the police and district administration are on their toes to check it. The officials who are not honest to their duties are being penalised. There could be some laxity on part of the officials to enforce rigorous enforcement of Prohibition laws, as their focus was on to check the spread of Covid pandemic,” said the CM.

Kumar also appealed to the people to abstain from consuming liquor, which sneaks in through illegal routes. “There is a chance that the liquor could be spurious and hence can cost lives,” said the CM.

Earlier, during the Janata Darbar, the CM asked the chief secretary to take action against a circle officer of Gaya for disobeying the orders of the district magistrate. Kumar took serious view of the CO’s conduct on a complaint of an elderly person, who alleged that the officer had ordered the arresting of his son when he went to seek possession of his land. The DM had passed a favourable order for him.