Lord Ram, Bihar common thread as PM Modi addresses diaspora in Port of Spain

NEW DELHI: Devotion to Lord Ram , participation in the campaign to construct the temple in Ayodhya, the roots in Bihar, continued love for the cuisine and folk music, the cricket they were lured from - PM Modi on Friday wove all this into his address to members of the Indian diaspora in Port of Spain.

Lord Ram and Bihar ran as the common thread as PM Modi reached out to an audience comprising largely of descendants of indentured labour who were enticed by British planters to leave Bihar to work on sugar plantations on the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Modi referred to his counterpart, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as "Bihar ki beti" (daughter of Bihar), highlighting her ancestral roots in Bihar's Buxar and said many Indians living in Trinidad and Tobago had roots in the Indian state. Kamla traces her roots to Bhelupur village in Itarhi block of Buxar, which she last visited in 2012.

PM referred to the deception played on poor Bihari labourers, the 'girmitiyas', the Bhojpuri reference to the thousands who were bound by agreements to work in an alien geography, and how they clung to their faith in trying times.

"Bihar's legacy is the pride of India and the world. Be it democracy, politics, diplomacy or higher education, Bihar gave world direction in many such subjects centuries ago and I believe that it will bring new inspirations and opportunities for the 21st century world," he said, even as he hailed Indian diaspora for carrying Ramayana in their hearts and thanked them for sending 'shilas' and sacred water for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.