Chief minister Nitish Kumar welcomes the Pakistani delegation at Samvad Bhavan in Patna on Saturday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, Aug. 25: They were surprised to learn that they had landed in an Indian state that has a village called “Pakistan”. And Nitish Kumar made the guests from Pakistan feel more at home by addressing them as “my brothers and sisters”.

Offering a warm reception to the 21-member Pakistani delegation, including 13 MPs led by ruling Pakistan Peoples Party secretary general Md Jahangir Badar to Bihar, the chief minister apprised them with the village “Pakistan” that came into existence in Purnea district near India-Bangladesh border in the wake of the Partition in 1947.

Showing the map of “Pakistan” to the delegates, Nitish, according to sources part of the one-to-one interaction between the chief minister and the guests, said: “Almost all Muslims of the village, then in Islampur district of Bengal, had migrated to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). It was an emotional and peaceful parting. The villagers, however, left behind the name ‘Pakistan’ so that they did not miss their brothers and sisters from whom they got separated.”

The village in the Singhiya panchayat under Shrinagar block of Purnea district in Seemanchal (bordering) region, about 400km northeast off Patna, is still there with many people preserving the memory of their fellow villagers who had gone to the new country carved out from the sub-continent. ‘Pakistan’ finally became part of Bihar after the reorganisation of states in 1956.

Overwhelmed with the warmth, Senator Jahangir said: “Nitish Kumar behtarin saksh hain jinhone ideal society ka concept diya hai (Nitish is a fine human being who harbours the concept of an ideal society). The Pakistani states have many things to learn from the way he has led Bihar on the path of harmony, brotherhood and development.”

The delegates, hailing from all four states of Pakistan, invited Nitish to visit their land and Islamabad, their national capital. The chief minister accepted their invitation and promised them to visit Pakistan either in November or December. The CM’s visit is, however, subject to the permission from the external affairs ministry.

The Pakistani delegates were on a goodwill mission to exchange ideas on the issues of development and trade. They looked quite eager to learn about the political and administrative mechanism Nitish has put in place to speed up development. Nitish deliberated in detail about the steps he took from 2005 to improve the law and order situation, empower women by giving them 50 per cent reservation at the local level of governance and ensure peace and communal harmony.

Emphasising that Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, was the second official language of Bihar, Nitish also explained his concept of “development with justice” by dwelling on the steps his government has taken — like distribution of bicycles and uniform and ensuring free education to students, improvement of the living condition of the Mahadalits (deprived sections) and road connectivity to villages with 250 people or more. He added that the number of girls attending schools has risen from 1.7 lakh to over 7 lakh in nearly seven years of the NDA rule in the state.

Nitish earned fulsome praise from the delegates. “Bihar has witnessed a miraculous change and development under Nitish Kumar, which is subject to research. It is not a utopia, but a real saga. The peace and spirit of brotherhood in the state should be emulated. Pakistan has many things to learn from Bihar under Nitish Kumar’s stewardship,” Jahangir said.

He requested Nitish to enlighten him on measures to curb corruption, empower women particularly in the hinterlands and ensure better efficiency among officials. Besides Jahangir, MPs Hazi Mohammad Adil, Syed Iqbal, Nadim Afzal Gondal, Zahir Hamid, Syed Tayiab Hussein, Anusha Rahman, Mir Amil Ali Khan Magshi and Abdus Sattar, engineers and scribes interacted with the Bihar chief minister at the Samvad Bhavan adjacent to Nitish’s 1 Aney Marg official home.

Ruling JD(U) MP N K Singh, principal secretary (water resources) Afzal Amanullah, development commissioner A.K. Sinha, chief secretary Navin Kumar, principal secretary (planning and development) Vijay Prakash and director-general of police Abhayanand participated in the interaction session with the Pakistani delegates.