The dateline of this report may surprise the readers, but this Pakistan is the name of a tiny hamlet in Purnea district which does not house a single Muslim family.
There are about 25 huts topped with tin roofs where only Santhals or tribals live. The village is 35 km from Purnea town and hardly 5 km from Singhia panchayat under Srinagar block.
Just like other neighbouring tribal villages of Prem Nagar, Pirthi Tola, Murlia, Golabari and Madhav Nagar, the villagers of Pakistan are also contemplating boycotting the polls.
However, even though they might boycott the polls due to their dissatisfaction with the present Congress MlA Afaq Alam of the Congress, they said they would be happy if the BJP won the elections.
Ashok Hansda and Jeetendra Besra, both in their mid 40s, said, “We will be overjoyed if the BJP wins.” Surendra Tuddu, a comparatively “affluent” man in his 30s nodded his head in agreement.
Asked if they would burst crackers to hail the BJP’s victory, the villagers looked at each other in embarrassment and said, “We would love to, but have no resources.”
Interestingly, none of them had heard of BJP president Amit Shah’s public announcement that the BJP’s defeat in Bihar would be celebrated in Pakistan and crackers would burst there.
The village, which falls under the Kasba Assembly constituency, has no septuagenarian who could recall the story behind the name of this village or what its original name was.
However, Suphal Hansda said they heard from their fathers and grandfathers that soon after Independence and creation of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) all the inhabitants of this village migrated there.
The tribal families living in the nearby jungles across Kari Kosi rivulet came and settled in this abandoned village possibly in 1948-50. “Since all occupants of this village had migrated to Pakistan our forefathers decided to name it Pakistan Village in their memory,” said Hansda, who is in his mid 60s.
Asked if they ever faced any problem or were teased by others over the name of their village or ever considered changing its name, Tuddu said they never thought of changing its name. But, there is no board to proclaim the village’s name as Pakistan. To prove the name of his village, Tuddu took out some Government certificates which mention Tuddu as a resident of Pakistan Tola.
The villagers complain that the present MlA Afaq Alam of the Congress had done nothing for them. “We voted for him but he just forgot us,” rued Jeetendra Besra, a landless farmhand.
“What is the use of votingIJ The Government will be formed even if don’t vote. We don’t see any reason to take part in this process,” he added, scolding some semi-naked children playing with bows and arrows nearby.
The condition of the village stands testimony to the MlA’s indifference. There is no school or primary health centre here. Children go to the Anganbari in neighbouring Golabari Village or middle school in Singhia, and patients are carried on cots to Srinagar block hospital.
Tuddu is the only affluent person in the village as his father Rangda Tuddu was a constable in Bihar Police. His is the only house in the village which is made of cement and has a colour TV with a dish antenna. Tuddu and only a few others keep mobile phones and get them charged in Singhia market as the village has no electricity.