TCN News
By Syed Amjad Hussain
Bihar Diwas or Bihar Foundation Day celebrated on 22nd of March every year was organised earlier owing to the upcoming month of Ramadan, by the team of Heritage times a website dedicated to exploring the forgotten and lesser-known aspects of Indian history.
The event was organised in Government Tibbi College, Patna on 9 March 2024 by inviting political leaders and historians.
‘Making of Bihar’ a six-minute documentary, scripted by Md Umar Ashraf and edited by Shahrukh Dawar Khan, highlighting the history of Bihar was screened for the audience followed by talks by the historians.
Historian Professor Imtiaz Ahmed, while throwing light on the history of Bihar, said that Bihar is a land where great people like Emperors Ashoka, Sher Shah Suri and Sikh guru Guru Gobind Singh have been born. He also clarified that Bakhtiyar Khilji is not responsible for the fall of the Nalanda University as is being falsely believed.
Dr. Anant Ashutosh Dwivedi, known for documenting the glorious heritage scattered in the villages of Bihar and India said, “there are more than two thousand heritage villages in Bihar alone, whose history is thousands of years old and needs to be told.” Speaking about Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta caves, he said that these caves are at par with Jehanabad and were inspired by Nagarjuna caves.
The founder of Heritage Times, Md Umar Ashraf, while talking about the establishment of modern Bihar, said that apart from Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha, many people made important contributions in establishing Bihar. These include people like Ali Imam, Mazhar Ul Haq, Nawab Sarfaraz Khan, Ganesh Dutt, Muhammad Fakhruddin, Mahesh Narayan, Nand Kishore Lal, Tej Narayan and many others. And the endeavour of Heritage Times has always been to bring to the forefront these contributions lest they be lost forever in the annals of history.
The chief guest of the event, Dr. Shakeel Ahmed, Former Union Minister and leader of Indian National Congress appreciated the work of Heritage Times and praised founder Omar Ashraf and his team for their efforts to restore history. He further said that the glory of the Bihar state will be restored just like its ancient glorious past during the reign of the Magadha Empire, if the ideas of the great men who laid the foundation of Bihar will be followed.
The event was presided over by Hakim Tanveer Alam, former principal of Tibbi College and moderated by Muhammad Zakaria and Muhammad Zeeshan Ul Islam Farooqui.
Many prominent personalities from different walks of fields such as scholars, academicians, sports-persons attended the event. Some of them were Intekhab Alam, Naqeeb Ekta, Mashkoor Ahmed, Rajiv Kumar, Umesh Kumar, Muhammad Sahil, Yusuf Jamil, National Karate Champion Zabir Ansari, Khurram Mallik and others.