A Mountain to Break

The stories of Dashrath Manjhi and Laungi Bhuiyan reveal a deeper pattern of how Bihar's Dalits remain confined to announcements and symbolism rather than tangible progress

- RANJAN RAHI

FOR over two decades, Bihar's political class has borrowed the legacy of Dashrath Manjhi, the “Mountain Man” who literally carved through a mountain of stone with a hammer and chisel to mine votes from memory.The name of the man who inspired the Bollywood film Manjhi-The Mountain Man, is invoked at rallies, his image is flashed on banners and promises are made in his honour. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar once claimed to be so moved by Manjhi's feat that he offered him his own chair, a gesture meant to bridge the symbolic distance between ruler and ruled. Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, from the same community, went even further, calling Dashrath his “relative”. But when the Mountain Man died in 2008 and his son asked for nothing more than a small permanent home, the responses from both leaders revealed what truly lies beneath the surface of Bihar’s politics: empathy that ends at the microphone.

When Bhagirath Manjhi, Dashrath’s son, appealed to Nitish, saying: “You've glorified my father’s name across Bihar; at least help us build a house to live in,” Nitish replied dryly, “Did you not get an Indira Awas (a housing grant)?” Later, Bhagirath approached Jitan Ram with the same plea, “Please help build us a two-room house.” The response was equally telling: “You already have a mud house, don’t you? What's the problem living in that?”

Back in 1992-93, Dashrath Manjhi received Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 under the Indira Awas Yojana. With that, he built a mud house that soon collapsed during the monsoon. He continued to live amid the ruins for years, as did his son Bhagirath, his daughter-in-law and five grandchildren until just a few months ago. But it raises the question, why did this recognition come only during election season, even though Dashrath's feat had been celebrated worldwide more than a decade earlier?