MUMBAI, May 14: In a land where late arrival is fashionable, the passive audience waiting for yesteryears' villain Shatrughan Sinha were in for a mild shock as the Bihari walked in late with an apology: ``I could not be born as Ram as I got late even for that and had to settle for Satrughan.''

Sinha was addressing a `sammelan' organised by the Bihar Pravasi Sangh (BPS) on Tuesday at Bhayandar attended by over 75,000 Biharis residing in Mumbai. Among other guests present on the occasion were famous singer Udit Narayan, son Aditya, film producer Prakash Jha, actor Ayub Khan, former union minister Hukumdev Yadav and scores of other BJP and Shiv Sena leaders.

Explaining the birth of the Sangh, president Balwant Shastri said, ``Parmeshwar Yadav, a Bihari, was killed for a bucket of water in this city. No justice has been done yet. Another Bihari labourer was thrown off from the building when he approached the builder for wages. These gruesome murders baffled me and I decided to fight for the respect of the Bihari community and founded this organisation.''

``There are more than 10 lakh Biharis residing in Mumbai but there is a dearth of leaders who can address their concerns and reflect their aspirations. "Biharis are synonymous with nikamma here and are victims of disrespect and quite often abused by peers for their poverty,'' added Shastri.

Pointing out the plight of Bihari labourers, Shastri said they are paid Rs 25 to 50 while the other labourers are paid more than Rs 100. ``You go to a Marwari's house. You will find young Bihari children working as servants earning a measly salary of Rs 200 per month.'' Why this discrimination against a particular community, he asked.

Star orator that he is, Sinha stirred up some emotion in his voice and said, ``If Maharastra is my mother Yashoda, who nurtured me, then Bihar is Devaki who gave birth to me.'' Then roared, ``We belong to the land of Gautam Buddha, Bhagwan Mahavir, Guru Gobind Singh, Ashoka and Chanakya... and let's acknowledge it with pride.''

Passing an oblique remark against Laloo Prasad Yadav, Sinha said Bihar is the richest state in India as far as minerals, forests and fertile lands are concerned, but some people are willing to eat even fodder to survive.``People of North India have always been used as a vote bank. Recent four PMs (prime minister) have not done anything for the four Ps: peace, progress, prosperity and pride,'' Sinha complained.

Mridula Sinha, on a concluding note, pointing at the apathy prevalent towards the Bihari folks, said, ``I left my native place 20 years ago for the sake of job and came to Mumbai, now I request the prime minister to return my village.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.