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Patna:
Excited residents of Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla
Persad-Bissessar's ancestral village in Bihar have decided to gift
her a chunk of its soil and a silver crown when she visits them
Wednesday.
Persad-Bissessar, whose ancestors migrated from Bihar to the
Caribbean islands in the 19th century, will visit Bhelupur in
Itarhi block of Buxar district, about 125 km from here. She is in
India to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas or diaspora meet.
"All villagers, including members of Kamla-ji's extended family,
have decided to gift her a chunk of the soil from her ancestral
village that she could carry back home," said Surendra Yadav, a
village resident.
Yadav said it was also decided to gift her a 'chandi ka mukut' or
silver crown. "We are collecting money from all villagers for it,"
he said.
According to district officials, some villagers are busy cleaning
the hamlet and others are helping local authorities in
preparations for her visit.
Buxar District Magistrate Ajay Yadav, who visited Bhelupur Sunday,
told IANS over telephone that the mood is upbeat and people are
eagerly waiting to welcome the visiting prime minister. "There is
a festive atmosphere in the village," he said.
Persad-Bissessar's ancestors are said to have migrated as
Girmitiya labourers to Trinidad and Tobago, then a British colony
in the Caribbean islands, in the 19th century.
According to an official record sent by the Trinidad and Tobago
government to Bihar, Persad-Bissessar's great-grandfather Ram
Lakhan Mishra had left Bhelupur in 1889.
An official in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's office said
Persad-Bissessar, the first woman prime minister of Trinidad and
Tobago, will meet her relatives during the visit.
District police have also tightened security.
Four years ago, Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam
had visited his ancestral village in the state's Bhojpur district,
about 60 km from here.
A large number of people from Bihar had migrated to the Mauritius,
Fiji, Trinidad, Suriname, South Africa and other places in the
19th century to serve as indentured labourers on sugarcane and
rubber plantations.
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