Respected Honourable Governor, Speaker, Chief Minister, other Ministers and Leader of Opposition of Bihar

I write this petition with a heavy heart and I am saddened to see that the government of Bihar, since its inception as a separate state in 1912, has not given importance to Bhojpuri but instead uses Hindi and Urdu as official languages. Most of the states in India like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Odisha, and West Bengal use their own languages for their official work. This, in turn, helps their language grow and develop.

Bhojpuri is spoken by approximately 52 million people and is one of the most rapidly growing languages in the world. Bhojpuri is spoken primarily in nine districts of Bihar. The number of Bhojpuri speakers in Bihar is higher than the number of people who speak Urdu as their native language in Bihar. Despite this, the Government of Bihar made Urdu the official language of Bihar in 1981. According to the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics (Vol. 1), Bhojpuri was spoken by about 5% of India's population in 2000.

The decline of the Bhojpuri has been because of the ignorance and unacceptance of the successive governments and our language has not been promoted and promoted even in our own state. One of the most humiliating fact is that Bhojpuri has been given the status of additional official language in the state of Jharkhand. Bhojpuri is spoken only in one district of Jharkhand - Garhwa. Despite this, the government of Jharkhand has made Bhojpuri an additional official language. Bhojpuri is also recognised among the national languages in Nepal. Not only in India and Nepal but Bhojpuri is also spoken in Caribbean Islands, Mauritius, Suriname, Guyana, Fiji and The Netherlands. In Fiji, Fiji Hindi or Fiji Baat is one of the official languages, which is a variant of Bhojpuri.

If the people and the state do not recognise their own language and culture, and respect and love it, then how do we expect other people of different states to respect our language and culture. I firmly believe that if and only when the people recognise and respect their culture, they can grow and develop and reach new heights. We have become a laughing stock in other parts of India. People in other parts of India aren't aware that Bhojpuri is a different language and has a separate history and literature and those who have heard of Bhojpuri are filled with the stereotypes presented in Bollywood films like PK. 

The lousy attitude of our government is the major reason why the study of Bhojpuri has declined in universities and colleges of Bihar itself. Several state universities of Bihar are being forced to shut the department of Bhojpuri because there are very few or no students and also there is a lack of funds. 

Since the last 10-15 years, Bhojpuri has even lost its space and value in Bihari households. The families who live outside of Bihar do not speak in their native language and instead choose to communicate with their children in Hindi or English instead of their native language. There is a feeling of disgust and pity in the minds of Biharis concerning their native language. They feel ashamed to speak their language in public places.

One of the reasons, especially in the case of Bhojpuri, is the vulgar and rotten Bhojpuri film industry and its songs. The vulgar and obscene songs composed in Bhojpuri have overshadowed the rich legacy of authors and poets like Rahul Sankrityayan, Bhikhari Thakur, Pandey Kapil, Heera Dom, Khadag Bahadur Malla, Teg Ali Teg, Motilal Upadhyay and many other prolific writers. Also, folk dances and music like Kajari, Fagua and Bidesiya are becoming obsolete and the people are not aware of the rich Bhojpuri culture. 

One of the positive steps taken recently by the Education Minister of Bihar has been the promotion of Bihari languages as the mode of teaching in primary and middle schools. This is a good step, but the government has no come up with a policy framework in this regard.

Therefore, having all said and done, I would request the Government of Bihar to make Bhojpuri the official language of Bihar.