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Vikramshila Nagrik Samity (VNS), a body to fight for the cause of Vikramshila, has exposed the hostile attitude of Bihar government to suppress this ancient region of Anga Pradesh along with Vikramshila.

With a solid example of state’s government hostile attitude towards Anga Pradesh (ancient Bhagalpur and its surroundings) and Vikramshila particularly, VNS has started approaching PMO and union ministers and MPs at New Delhi. It has started showing a recently launched www.brandingbihar.com ,  web site launched by Nitish Kumar at Patna recently with an aim to project’s Bihar legacy in different fields while excluding Anaga Pradesh and Vikramshila.

The website also has to face wide criticism by residents here as it failed even to mention about Anga Pradesh’s importance including Vikramshila due to which today’s Buddhism survives.

Two members’ delegation from Kahalgaon based voluntary organization which presently  camping at New Delhi to visit PMO, union ministers and some MPs with the long list of apathy of Vikramshila and Anga Pradesh by the state government.  “We now have another solid evidence of how Bihar government ignores Vikramshila and the region. We have started showing this everywhere here,” said Jagannath Bhagat, leader of the delegation from New Delhi today. He said the delegation of VNS is scheduled to vist union agriculture minister, Radha Mohan Singh, BJP’s national president, Amit Shah besides others at New Delhi. The members already called on union minister of minority affair, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Raman Sinha, a senior professor in the faculty of history at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU) raised question on whether Vikramshila has not the potentiality to include in the website in which several other places having historical significances  in Bihar are included.

“ Places like Bodh Gaya, Nalanda or Rajgir has been placed in the Buddha Circuit and even World heritage center of UNESCO but it is very unfortunate that no step yet been taken for Vikramshila,” alleged Behari Lal Choudhary, HOD post graduate department  of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology at TMBU.

Under utter neglect the world heritage laying unnoticed.

“It’s a fact that the due to Vikramshila, Buddhism could survive in today’s world. If Dipanker Srighyan Atisha was not at Vikramshila, Lamaism would not have flourished in the world, but  the fate of Vikramshila still hanging in balance, does it not deserve for it?,” asked ShivShanker Singh Parijat, a retired deputy director in state public relation department and historian who has been conduting research on Dipanker.  Echoing the historian, local residents alleged Nitish Kumar to suppress the rich legacy of this region. “It’s really funny that Anga with its capital which was prominent among 16 th Maha Janpads, along with Vikramshila could not enlisted in Bihar’s website,” Arabinda Singha Roy, a teacher in the faculty of history in Ranchi University. Singha Roy recently conducted a detail research works for the directorate of archaeology, Bihar, claimed that it’s perhaps unique in India that the remains of anicnet Champa still buried inside the earth at Bhagalpur as scientific studies already established its existence.

N K Jaiswal, convener of VNS and also a member in the delegation, said that they are trying to visit PMO. “If we have the appointment of the PM, we would narrate how his poll partner, Nitish Kumar has been suppressing even the proposed central varsity which early in 2015 was announced by Narendra Modi. We will also narrate how the unique heritage of the country yet not included in Buddha circuit or world heritage center of UNESCO mainly due to the indifferent attitude of Nitish Kumar,” he told today. He also disclosed that the delegation also scheduled to visit Rahul Gandhi. “We are planning to mobilize some MPs so that they could raise our demands  in the floors of the parliament,” said Roshan Singh, a spokesperson of VNS at New Delhi.

Jaiswal said that local farmers are ready to donate their lands of more than 500 acres near half-excavated site of Vikramshila in exchange of proper compensation. “The center earlier asked for 500 acres of land for the proposed central varsity. But now Bihar government has stated that it could not afford more than 200 acres of land for the proposed varsity. Hence it never is in the favour of the central varsity here or any development related to Vikramshila,” he alleged.

Singh told after the meeting with the persons concerned, VNS would also conduct a press meet at New Delhi to exposed the ground zero realities of the heritages like Vikramshila and subsequently how serious is the state government to take care on it.