Satyagraha Park will come up at the site where George Orwell was born

The preparations to construct a park to commemorate the Satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi on a plot marked as the birthplace of George Orwell has sparked controversy in the town.

Writer of iconic classics like Animal Farm and 1984, English novelist Eric Arthur Blair — better known by his penname George Orwell — was born in Motihari on June 25, 1903. Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Champaran on April 13, 1917, to begin his Satyagraha Movement.

The urban development department and the civic body are now planning to construct a park — named Satyagraha Park — in the town. But the plot they have chosen is a site where stood the house in which Orwell was born.

Urban development minister Prem Kumar is slated to lay the foundation stone of the park on Saturday. His department has sanctioned Rs 2.21 crore for the project.

Confirming the sanctioning of funds, Nagar Parishad chairperson Prakash Asthana said: “The park would have seven busts of Mahatma Gandhi and would provide information about the Father of the Nation to visitors.”

The executive officer of the Nagar Parishad, Rajendra Mandal, added: “There would be a food court, a children’s park and a waterfall as well.”

Asked why they chose Orwell’s birthplace to construct a park, Asthana said: “There was a lot of unused space at the site. So we decided to utilise it to construct the park.” The plan has irked both Gandhians and admirers of Orwell’s writing.

Mangal Murti, a retired English professor of Magadh University and translator of Orwell, said: “With no disrespect to Mahatma Gandhi, this is a nasty plan to ruin a historically important site. This is only a cheap political move.”

Ram Parvesh Sharma, a retired English professor of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, said the purpose for the construction of the park was unclear as there was already a Gandhi Sangrahalaya and a Satyagraha Pillar in the town.

Razi Ahmad, secretary, Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Patna, said: “Any construction in the name of Gandhi should only be at the spot where the pillar stands.”

The Satyagraha Pillar was established in 1969 and the Sangrahalaya was constructed later.

Rajesh Ranjan Verma, English professor of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, said: “The administration has already begun the fencing of the site under the heritage protection scheme of the government. Such whimsical proposals would create confusion among the people.”

The district magistrate, Vinay Kumar, too, is at a loss why the project had been taken up.

“How can this happen on a protected site? I shall look into the matter. I have sent officers to survey the area,” said Kumar, who took charge on Wednesday.