Bihar ex-IPS officer returns Police Medal to protest against Khuda Baksh Khan Library’s proposed demolition

The term ‘Award Wapsi’ hit the headlines a few of years back when dozens of recipients of academic and life time achievement awards returned the mementos to register their protest against growing intolerance in the country in the BJP regime and its not-so-silent approval in the corridors of power.

No less than 40 Sahitya Academy Award winners (the second most important literary award) and an equal number of celebrities including best-selling author Arundhati Rai, Kundan Shah of Jane bhi di yaron fame and several others returned the awards in support of non-violence and rationality.

Now a retired Bihar cadre IPS officer Amitabh Das has joined what has derisively been labelled as the ‘Award Wapsi gang’. Das returned his Police Medal in protest against the proposed demolition of a portion of the iconic Khuda Baksh Khan library in Patna. The library is regarded as a treasure store of information on oriental studies and houses some very rare manuscripts.

In his letter addressed to the President of India, who confers the medal, Das alleged that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, in connivance with some corrupt contractors and ‘tender mafia’, has decided to raze a portion of the library to the ground.

Pointing out that the library was a heritage building, Das, in his letter also said that the library represented composite Indian culture and its best traditions. Claiming to be a book lover, Das, known for his outspoken nature, has said that the proposed demolition exercise has shocked him beyond description.

Das has also launched a campaign named ‘Har shakhs, Khuda Baksh’ on the pattern of ‘Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi’.

As per the plan prepared by Bihar State Bridge Corporation, the library’s demolition will, among other things, raze a reading room named after former Viceroy Lord Curzon to the ground to pave way for the construction of a flyover to reduce traffic congestion in central Patna.

The library is home to the personal collections of Mughal king Shah Jahan, Princess Jahan Ara and a rare copy of ‘Ode to Napoleon’ penned by Lord Byron with two stanzas written in the poet’s own hand.

Formally established in 1891, the library reportedly contained nearly 4000 manuscripts to begin with. In 1969, Parliament passed a special Act declaring it as an Institution of National Importance.