Barhai tola, Nagro

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The ‘Pakistan’ tag

Jaideep Deogharia, July 16, 2023: The Times of India

Some point out that it was all more or less tolerable till a notice for the construction of a road was issued by their MLA’s office. Likely for clarity’s sake, Barhai tola was identified as ‘Pakistan’ in the advertisement. That sent the local administration into a tizzy. For it is only colloquially that the hamlet of 28 houses in Sabaijor panchayat of Sarath block in Deoghar district is referred to as ‘Pakistan’. Naturally, the residents are not amused.


Octogenarian Upendra Rana argues that the moniker for their hamlet – part of the Nagro revenue village – is of recent provenance. “We have been living here for centuries and there are seven tolas in the village. To identify Barhai tola, some people started calling it ‘Pakistan’,” he said.


The name is attributed to a group of well-to-do residents of the nearby Darpokhar hamlet who belong to the so-called upper caste. It is believed that they began referring to Barhai tola as Pakistan. But the story goes that the residents of Barhai tola did not initially mind the tag as they felt it indicated that their hamlet was one that needed to be left alone.


That is what another octogenarian, Nirmal Prasad Rai, a resident of Darpokhar, claims. He says that while they have been referring to Barhai tola as Pakistan for several years, they “have not given the neighbourhood this name”. “Instead, it is they (Barhai tola’s residents) who boasted about being called Pakistani,” says Rai. Wider enquiries suggest that the ‘Pakistan’ name is commonly associated with this hamlet of 130 residents whose main occupation is carpentry – ‘barhai’ is Hindi for carpenter. According to Mantu Singh, the owner of a medicine shop on Sabaijor main road, “even autorickshaw drivers know where to go when one mentions Pakistan tola”.


Thanks to the advertisement from MLA Randhir Singh’s office though, matters have now come to a head. At least where the name is concerned. A tender notice published in a local paper on May 12 invited bids for construction of village roads. One of the items was the construction of a road from Darpokhar village to Pakistan (Barhai tola).


“I guess when the MLA was sending his recommendation for road construction, he mentioned the commonly known name of the hamlet and that got included in the notice,” says Sabaijor Mukhiya Khushboo Singh. She quickly added that corrections have been made to ensure nobody refers to Barhai tola as Pakistan.


BDO Pallavi Sinha and circle officer Mamta Marandi asked locals to stop using that name altogether. “Nobody will call it Pakistan anymore, we have given directions to the villagers,” Marandi told TOI.

For now, the big worry is the media focus. Visitors are readily shown Aadhaar cards and other documents to prove that the Pakistan moniker is a fake one. Ravindra Prasad Rana, a resident, said he was even ready to file an FIR against anybody who called them ‘Pakistani’. “We have shown everybody our papers, but if media people continue to come and bother us, we will approach the court,” he said.