"We will hold a demonstration in front of parliament," said Baidnath Choudhary Baiju, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Mithila Rajya Sangharsh Samiti.

Dhanakar Thakur, who has been spearheading the campaign for a separate Mithila state for 17 years, will lead the sit-in Dec 22.

"If Telangana can be a separate state, why not Mithila," Thakur asked.

Last week, Baidnath Choudhary had asked all the MPs and legislators from the region to come together to press for the creation of Mithila.

"We have urged people's representatives, including MPs and MLAs (legislators), social and cultural organisations and other bodies in Mithila to join hands to launch a campaign for the creation of Mithilanchal," he said.

The proposed state would consist of at least 10 districts spread over north Bihar where Maithili is spoken.

"The population of the Mithila region is 40 million and it elects 22 MPs and 126 legislators to the Bihar assembly. It is unfortunate that despite having such a huge area and population, a separate state is yet to be created," said Tarakant Jha, another campaign leader.

"History suggests that Mithila was a separate state in ancient times. It was evident from the fact that Janak, the father-in-law of Lord Rama, was the king of Mithila (according to Hindu epic Ramayana)," he added.

Since 2000, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, the Maithili and Bhojpuri speaking people of the state have been demanding separate states for their communities.

Comment

comments...

I am born in Darbhanga and brought up in Kolkata.Later I shifted to Pune and am working in a MNC. I really do not understand where is the need of a separate state..? Bihar saw a divide not in recent times and see what has been the result of resource rich state of Jharkhand.
What are we asking for -- A separate identity for a land frquently devastated by flood..?What is the model for revenue generation for the proposed Mithilanchal..?
How can it differentiate with the current state of Bihar..?

These questions has to be answered first and instead of asking for a separte state we all should work for development of Bihar.
So called leaders of this movement can press for a devlopment plan for these areas which has not seen any development in recent history baring starting of new trains, and so called expressway being constructed in parts of Bihar which touches the Mithilanchal.
Core issues should be taken up and we should stand united for Bihar.

Sharad

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The issue is not separate Mithila state. The real issue is development of the area ( Mithilanchal). Now the leaders has to present how they will go about the development? People need development , with or without Bihar doesn’t matter to them. So the agenda should be the development…nothing else.

Sudhanshu Shekhar Mishra