Manoj Gupta Ji, you are absolutely right but I will not use the word ‘ban’. Sanjay Gupta Ji, you missed one thing in your analysis and that has the power to prove your assumption wrong and that is “Suffering of victims”. People of Bihar were fed up with crime and gave Nitish Ji a chance because he promised he would fix it in three months. Please don’t make it appear as if Nitish Ji was trying to cheat public. So what kidnapping and extortion in Bihar is multi-crore business still people suffer from them. There are those who are making crores out of this and there are those who are suffering out of this. This is a war between two, it is not just in the hand of criminals as you have assumed in your analysis. Trust me criminals will be defeated. Yes there are criminals in Nitish Ji’s party but then people have given him enough mandate to sideline them. He has the will power. By defeating Laloo Ji, he broke the first myth. Restoring law and order in Bihar is second myth. Nitish Ji can break second myth. Hopeless Bihar is third myth; he can break that myth also. It is Bihari society, which is the main problem fixer, and they have offered Nitish Ji as solution to the problem. With this desire of Bihari society to fix its problem, Bihar can never remain hopeless. - Vipin Singh - Jan. 23, 2006

Sanjayji why are you wasting your time and energy writing volumes if Bihar is dead and gone? Is it lamentation? I suggest you check the pulse. Is Bihar dead and gone or is it still breathing? If there is no pulse no point writing voluminous obituaries. Find something more useful or productive to do. If it is breathing there is still hope. If there is hope talk of hope. Think and talk positive.

You do not stand next to an ailing relative in hospital giving discourses about his misdeeds that led him to this stage and you do not announce "Now he is going to die. There is no hope. Just wait a moment. There he looks like a bulb about to fuse." You talk hope however hopeless the condition. You worry about what you can possibly do to help in such a situation. Perhaps you get the drift. - Raj - Jan. 24, 2006

You are the most pessimist person I ever come across. I don't know what is your problem but this is the most negative attitude ever. The situation in Bihar is no worse than once terrorism ridden Punjab. If normalcy can return there then why not in Bihar? The crime and kidnapping will be uprooted from Bihar not because of Nitish Kumar's government or anything else but due to the will of the people. Bihar now wants its share in national development and anything that will hinder it will not exist. People want change and that is what forces or motivates government to work. It's just two months, it will take time to crack the system working for last 15 or more years but the government is giving message loud and clear that police has to contain crime. Now any criminal will not be spared. Nitish Kumar is openly saying that he will go to any extent to help police to instill fear in criminals. We should never underestimate the police. It was crippled just due to the corrupt regime. Just give them freedom to unleash their power the same police can do wonders. What we need here is someone like KPS Gill or Ajay Raj Singh who can motivate the police to perform and insure them against any political intervention. - Pankaj Kumar Jha, IIT Kanpur - Jan. 24, 2006

I would like to just suggest that life is a rich experience if we open our eyes. I know that things in Bihar are not rosy --- I know from things my in-laws tell us, and I know from reading things here. I have faith that people mostly have good hearts. There are always some with distorted, hateful spirits who only know how to harm others. That seems to be a fact of being human for some. The point, however, is that no two people subjected to very same events or circumstances will experience them in the same way. What can cause one person to soar above his wounds can cause another to curl up and cease to live beyond merely existing. I don't think people write here to cause "dirty debate" or pain to others. People want to be heard, and they want to be validated. What one person sees as pessimistic is seen as realistic by someone else. Emotions run high when it comes to matters of "home" --- especially when another's perception of that home is completely askew from what we believe ourselves. Just breathe, and think a minute before declaring someone a kind of heretic. Change takes time, and it is difficult to accomplish. The essential thing is to truly change yourself. Change your thinking, change your reactions, change your core beliefs, change your behaviors. Others will follow. Trust that. - Carolyn, USA - Jan. 24, 2006

It is said keep your fingers crossed. Still, I have hope. It is my home state and I want to see a better Bihar. I understand Mr. Sanjay's point, and I believe he is absolutely right in his observations. I call my parents twice a week and my father, especially, will ask when I am coming to Bihar (India). I tell them I do not have a problem coming until I land at Indian Airport. Once I get out of the plane, the problems get started and once I reach Bihar, its intensity increases.

In all my visits to Bihar, I have to face one or two problems. Sometimes, it is life threatening, a journey problem or a cops problem. I feel very quiet and secure while I am in the USA. Once I reach home in Bihar, I hear many things. My neighbor captured our land, using it for his cows, putting up light and telephone poles in my land. What should I do? I get frustrated hearing all these. When I confronted the man, I was threatened to be implicated in a false case. Our non-violence formula became like a boon for others. Will I go to the Police station and be subjected to a barrage of abusive words by someone who does not seem to know how to treat law abiding citizens, but does seem to know that anyone one who walks in the door is a potential source of money? Visiting there sometimes feels like biggest mistake; like inviting a storm. You must have heard "Aa bail Mujhe Mar". Once you are there, police will know they have hooked an uninterrupted source of money to them. Might be we have invented UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) but our cops should get all the credit for having invented UPS long, long ago. (Choose the words that fit: Unaware Potential Sucker, Unwilling Police Supporter, Unwitting Payment Source).

It does not need any additional confirmation. The evidence is everywhere, and well known. I think the Ministry is a haven for the biggest, most dreaded criminals. I can't trust any of them. If someone commits a crime one time, it is said they can be reformed from their mistake. But how do we expect a career criminal to magically become a gentleman? Crime can be controlled in a second if one has a will to do so. If someone gets caught, one minister will say "please forgive him." Mr. Nitish will be absolved simply by saying that he was responding to a request for fair treatment. - S. M. Khurshid Anwar, New York, USA - Jan. 24, 2006

Sanjay Gupta ji, you are totally a pessimistic man and worse, you do not have patience. Wait man, wait and as Bob Dylan sang, don't criticise something that you don't understand. Do you think you can do as good as Nitish is doing with all the pulls and pushes that he may have to endure from all and sundry out there? If yes, then what the heck you are doing out here blurting out your Nostradamus prophecies? Bihar can use some people like you. - Ravindra Kumar - Jan. 24, 2006

Many readers have joined in the emotional race to paint themselves as optimists, and have tried to outdo one another in their opposition to this article.

When I read Sanjay Gupta's article (which was backed by logic) I was thinking, "Iski baat mein dum to hai." Though I did not like what he predicted, his logic was persuasive about the point he was making.

Like a heap of compost, Bihar has festered for centuries. Jharkhandis excised themselves out, taking away the mineral resources. Can you remember the days when Bihar was in the top ten states of India? It bore the brunt to the British drug trade. Poverty destroyed social value systems. 'Aarakchan, Asuvidha and Araajakta' have caused massive brain drain on the state. The people who remain are hassled by the Gundas. The businessmen, harassed by kidnappings, are now looking to relocate. Bihar is on its way to becoming a dark area on the Map of India which people might refer to as "the unknown zone, where they might say "We do not know what's happening in this part of India."

If one is too pessimistic, one stops trying to improve things. If someone is too optimistic, he either sees nothing wrong with the system or stays happy with the way it is. When Nitish took over I was on the optimistic side of the middle, now as time goes on and no harsh measures are taken to contain crime, I am gradually losing hope and my needle is crossing the middle mark and going Mr. Sanjay Gupta's way. - Aarcee - Jan. 24, 2006

Aarcee, your optimism to pessimism in 2 months explains why Laloo was able to rule Bihar for 15 years with crime, poverty and corruption. It is because educated people like you and me cannot agree and let our brain rest and keep thinking 24/7/365 whereas uneducated people (Laloo supporters) kept faith in their messiah and let them ruin till it was time for them to start begging. If you see list of chief ministers in Bihar during pre-Laloo era you will simply get what I am trying to say. It also explains why Naidu lost in Andhra and why Krishna lost in Karnataka. Bad thing comes with every good things and with education comes reason to doubt and oppose each and every view, each and every action, whether right or wrong.- Kaushal Das - Jan. 24, 2006

I have been reading comments on several topics including this. It is very saddening to note that readers often get personal with each other. Rather than focussing on the issues they try to address each other. Yes, it seems very nice and effective way of addressing each other by the first name with the added Bihari suffix 'ji', so long as the going is smooth. But when things become muddier, as they do sometimes, that style
may be very uncomfortable. So we need to play by some rule which should work most of the time (no guarantee they will always work).

May I request that we all impose a self discipline on us - not to get personal with each other? On this matter, perhaps, PatnaDaily could offer some assistance by either moderating some of the writings or at least putting up a 'do and do not' guideline to assist people while writing comments.

I reckon all of us do have the same love and affection for our state and for that matter our country. Pessimism or optimism is just a point of view. It just does not change the reality. It is just not fair to call someone name or ask someone to be banned, just because the other person said something which is not one likes.

We shout out so loudly about democracy, people power and so forth. But do we really believe in the basic democratic values - the freedom of expression? I am not talking here about the unrestrained freedom. Every freedom comes with the responsibly and duty of care and limits of decency. Let us reform ourselves before asking others to reform/change. The bottom line is that no matter how emotional an issue may be, we must maintain the decorum of debate. Just think what examples we are setting here for millions of our underprivileged Bihari youngsters in conducting themselves in public, when we can not do the same. We all owe a responsibility, the responsibility of leadership. It is not only the Chief Minister of Bihar who has a responsibility - every one of us has one. It does not matter whether one is in Bihar or outside in India or overseas, everyone of us can still contribute to the better future and better image of Bihar in small way. If we expect others to respect us, we must respect each other first. It will be a great contribution to the betterment of Bihar if we learn and practice this - respect of others irrespective of anything - including social and political views. - Awadhesh Prasad, Canberra, Australia - Jan. 24, 2006

oI am a bit unfortable in commenting on my own write up , towards the readers' response but since the topic is a very burning one I just would like to add few more sentences in hope that it would clear some misconceptions of my friends.

The topic "Hopeless Bihar" was given by the Editor of Patna Daily , I had used the title "Wearing Green Glasses"

What I first felt is that rather than the whole article the title itself (which is very high sounding) created quite a stir in the minds of the readers.

Secondly many people blamed me of being a pessimist if you term anyone by that name if he is giving a clear picture of the scene in Bihar then they are welcome and I have no remorse of being called a pessimist and nor do I blame my dear friends for that remark.

When a person has himself faced atrocities during his childhood by his neighbours and also faced heart breaking situations when he grew up, that person is simply giving real life account.

I do not intend to get emotional only because my grandfather had lost his precious land to the local mafia for peanuts and my father-in-law was murdered at the age of 48 by 6 people in cold blood for ransom, my maternal uncle lost his leg when a local goon attacked him with his tractor and ran it over his leg, one of my uncles in Jamui almost lost his life when his motorcycle was bombed by criminals but he luckily survived the attack (All proof is available if anyone wishes to know can contact me)

My heart bled when approximately 8 years ago the Dadar Guwahati express was looted between Jamalpur and Bhagalpur which was carrying a marriage party and 13 women were forcibly taken away by the goons after they killed 3 people and till today there is no trace of those women, if anyone needs any proof on this then please visit Jamalpur police station and check the criminal record of that incident.

Even after that I had the courage to take my family and friends to Bhagalpur for my marriage on the same train because I love my state and I am proud to be called a Bihari, I got married in Bihar and every year travel to Bhagalpur from Kolkata to meet my in-laws sans my father-in-law and many of my relatives.

My comments were not directed towards Nitish Kumar what ever great person one may be and whatever great work he does for the society he also gets due respect and love of the people.

When tragedies happen then that person only can understand the pangs of that event and no one else.

Even after saying so much I would say that I will always love Bihar and keep on visiting it and if death comes by then I will take it heads on because I believe in myself and if I am able to defend myself then I must and if I am not then I must submit. - Sanjay Gupta - Jan. 24, 2006

Discussion on this topic is now closed.