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Farmer who pelted Kalam with stones fasts to atone for his deed
Patna, July 29
Bhola Mahto has stopped eating
ever since he heard that former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had passed
away and vowed that he would fast till Thursday when the departed leader
would be laid to rest.
This, says the resident of Pilkhi village
under Rajgir police station in Nalanda district, is his way of atoning
for his "sin" of hurling stones and mud balls at the distinguished
scientist and teacher as well as at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2008
when they came calling in connection with the revival of the ancient
Nalanda university.
The former president, popularly known as
'Missile Man' and 'People's President, died of a cardiac arrest while
delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong
in Meghalaya on Monday evening.
"I was shocked to learn of his
death and decided to skip food till he was buried (on Thursday morning
in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu). It is a small gesture from me to pay my
respect to him for what happened in 2008 when he and Nitish Kumar
visited the proposed university site," Mahto said in a choked voice.
Mahto
said he was part of a group of villagers who hurled stones at Kalam and
Nitish Kumar to protest against inadequate compensation for 446 acres
of land acquired in Rajgir for Nalanda university.
He recalled
that after their protest, Kalam invited him along with three other
villagers and carefully listened to their grievances over the inadequate
compensation.
"Kalam gifted us such a big thing (university)
that generations will benefit from it. But I and other villagers still
feel guilty about the protest against him then," Mahto said.
The proposed university was a brainchild of Kalam and a dream project of Nitish Kumar.
Nalanda, about 100 km from here, is the home district of Nitish Kumar.
The newly revived Nalanda International University has since floated a global tender for constructing its new campus.
The
proposed campus is 12 km from the site where the original Nalanda
University once stood till the 12th century before it was razed by an
invading Turkish army led by Bakhtiyar Khilji, a general of Qutubuddin
Aibak.
The university was established in the 5th century during the reign of the Gupta dynasty.