Key Points
If Modi government's decision, which came a day ahead of Thakur's birth centenary, marked the recognition of a leader who played a major role in organising the socially backward and the poor and was known for exemplary probity, it was also seen by many as an overture to the most/extremely backward castes in Bihar at a time when the opposition has raised the issue of 'caste census' to forge a coalition of OBCs...
Belonging to the extremely backward Nai (barber) caste, 'Jan Nayak' Thakur was born into a poor family in north Bihar's Samastipur district..
Thanking PM Modi for the decision, Bihar CM and JDU president Nitish Kumar said the Bharat Ratna to Thakur was a "years old demand"..
A staunch socialist, Thakur abolished English as a compulsory subject, liberating thousands of students from poor and rural backgrounds from the onerous burden of competing with their peers, rich and from the cities, who had the resources to learn the language..
Even the dominant OBCs were not happy with the fact that 12% of the 20% quota had been earmarked for the MBCs: a resentment that would find expression in the kapati Thakur slur used by one of the backward stalwarts who has profited by parading himself as Thakurs legatee...
