Chief minister Nitish Kumar and a delegate release the book in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Feb. 16: The state government is going to include the life of Maulana Ali Hussain Asim Bihari, the great freedom fighter hailing from Nalanda district, in the school curriculum of the state.

Releasing a book on Hussain Bihari today, chief minister Nitish Kumar said it was very unfortunate that the role and contribution of such a great freedom fighter was still unnoticed as neither any historian nor any expert from the Muslim community has come forward in highlighting the contribution made by him in freedom movement.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar said: “I will ask the education department to introduce a chapter on Hussain Bihari so that students can know about his role and contribution in the freedom movement.” Nitish released the book titled as Biography of Maulana Ali Hussain Asim Bihari and All India Momin Conference History written by Maulana Ahmad Sahzad, a professor of Ranchi University.

The chief minister added: “I am very fortunate to be releasing a book on such an eminent person on the holy day of Miland-Ul-Nabi, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed.” Focusing on the overall revamp in the education sector, Nitish said: “In the past five years, the rate of school dropouts dipped from 12.5 per cent to just 3 per cent because of various educational schemes introduced by his government.”

However, the chief minister said a lot of work had to be done in the education sector and his next step would be to retain those children getting into schools.

“Five years ago, there was feeling of disrespect for residents of Bihar in other states. However, the situation has now changed and people from other states are also showing a sense of respect towards people of our state.”

Earlier, the author of the book, Maulana Ahmad Sahzad, threw light on the life of Hussain Bihari saying he was a great freedom fighter and always worked for the emancipation and uplift of backward Muslims. The role of Hussain Bihari is similar to that of Jyotiba Phule, the great social reformer who had always worked for emancipation of backward castes.