Introduction

Mithila State Movement is a 300-year-old movement advocating a separate Mithila state in India. This movement gained momentum in 1902 AD when Sir George Grierson, an official of the British Indian government, prepared a map of Mithila state by conducting a language-based survey. In 1881 AD, the word Mithila was added to the dictionary of the British India government. According to the founder, president Dr. Dhanakar Thakur of the International Maithili Council in the proposed Mithila state, 24 districts of Bihar and six districts of Jharkhand, a total of 30 districts, have been included, which has a population of about 70 million. At the same time, the area is 70 thousand square km.^[1]

History

In 1912, when a new Bihar province was separating from the Bengal presidency, the people of Mithila demanded a separate Mithila state based on Sir George Grierson's language-based survey of 1902. But the demand was rejected by the British India government, which stated that in the future, Bihar would be divided into two more states, Odisha and Mithila. In 1921, Maharaja Rameshwar Singh of Darbhanga Raj raised the demand for a separate state of Mithila based on the concept of creating “a series of self-governing provinces and principalities federated by one central government.” ^[2] In 1936, Odisha was separated from Bihar, but the demand of a separate Mithila state remained ignored. India became independent in 1947, and from 1950 to 1956 many states were formed based on language, but a separate Mithila state was again ignored. The people of Mithila were aggrieved by this, and by 1950–1952, a movement developed. In 1952, Dr. Laxman Jha launched a major movement for a separate Mithila state. Later he worked only for Mithila-Maithili.^[3] [4] Mithila Kesari Late Janaki Nandan Singh raised the demand for a separate Mithila state and expressed opposition in the Congress party in 1954, handing over important documents for a separate Mithila state to the country's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1956.[5][6] In 1986, Janata MP Vijay Kumar Mishra revived the old demand for a separate Mithila state comprising the districts of Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Saharsa, Purnea, Bhagalpur and more of the district of North Bihar. The revival came in the form of a three-day rail roko agitation organised by him.[7] In March 1996, Mithila Rajya Sangharsh Samiti initiated a mass-contact campaign for the demand of a separate Mithila state, and in the month of July of the same year, Mithlanchal Vikas Congress demanded the formation of an Autonomous Development Council for Mithila.[8] In 2000, Jharkhand was separated from Bihar, but the demand for a separate Mithila state again remained ignored.[9] After the separation of Jharkhand state, the former Advocate General of Bihar, former Chairperson of the Bihar Legislative Council and BJP leader Pt. Tarakant Jha, announced the movement for a separate Mithila state on 4 August 2004 in a press conference. In 2007 he started a signature campaign to demand the creation of a separate state of Mithila for the people who speak Maithili. He said, "We will collect signatures of 10 million people in support of the demand for creation of a separate state of Mithila and submit it to the President of India".[10] After being expelled from the BJP, he continued to advocate the Mithila movement, but as soon as he became a member of the Legislative Council he put the movement on hold. He died in May 2014. In 2008, JD(U) Party's state president Shravan Chaudhary said that his party favored the formation of a separate Mithila state with respect to 18 Lok Sabha and 108 assembly constituencies of North Bihar. According to him, this area is very backward since independence. Every year people of the area face flood situation, and industries in the region are also in ruins. Therefore, the formation of a separate Mithila state is the only solution for the development of this region.[11] In 2015, Cricketer-turned-BJP MP Kirti Jha Azad demanded a separate Mithila state for Maithils. According to him "Mithila should be a separate state if not a separate country". He raised this issue in the Parliament of India to fulfil the old dream of a separate Mithila state for Maithils in North Bihar.[12][13] In 2018, former chief minister and chief opposition leader Rabri Devi favoured the demand of separate Mithila State for Maithili speaking in North Bihar at Bihar Legislative Council. She demanded with the chairperson of the council to create a separate Mithila state for Maithili-speaking people. The issue was raised after the demand of legal sanctity for the use of Maithili language in official works of the Bihar government by the then BJP MLC Suman Kumar's non-government resolution at the council.[14] In 2019, three BJP leaders, Gopal Ji Thakur MP from Darbhanga, Ashok Kumar Yadav MP from Madhubani and Sanjay Saraogi MLA from Darbhanga Nagar, raised the demand for a separate Mithila state at 47th Vidyapati festival celebration ceremony organized by Vidyapati Seva Sansthan and held in Darbhanga. They stated that they would take the state of Mithila by violence, as opposed to begging from the government.[15] Akhil Bhartiya Mithila Rajya Sangharsh Samiti had been continuously staging a strike for a separate Mithila state on the first day of every session of the Indian parliament for the previous several years. National President of the Akhil Bhartiya Mithila Rajya Sangharsh Samiti Dr. Baidyanath Chaudhary "Baiju Babu" said that without social, cultural, economic, political and linguistic independence of Mithila, development of the entire Mithila region is impossible.[9][16] On 18 July 2022, he said that the identity of Mithila is being disappeared in Bihar. Meanwhile, Mithila Rajya campaigners Pandit Ashok Jha, Praveen Narayan Choudhary, Jayanti Jha, Savita Mishra, Anju Jha and senior campaigners Pandit Harekant Jha said that Mithila has lost momentum and direction due to government negligence.  Education and health standards are falling sharply.  Major demands were put forward during the meeting including separate Mithila state, preservation and promotion of Maithili language, comprehensive development of Mithila and 35-point demands.  Also, permanent solution to floods by building dams in Nepal, AIIMS, IIT, IIM, Doordarshan in Maithili, establishment of IT park, establishment of High Court bench, prevention of migration and unemployment and creation of Mithila Regiment in the Army are prominent.  A memorandum was also submitted to the President, Prime Minister and Home Minister led by Madan Kumar Jha and Hiralal Pradhan.[17][18] Mithila Student Union is the biggest students union in Mithila region of Bihar. They have started a movement for the separate Mithila state in India from the present Bihar on social media and mass contact campaigns. The organisation had planned a huge public protest on 21 August 2022 at Jantar Mantar in the national capital of India in New Delhi. The organisation held a huge mass public protest at Jantar Mantar. The public gathering at the protest demanded a separate Mithila state from the present Bihar state in India. In the protest people and young students from different districts of Mithila region arrived to took part in the protest.[19] The non resident Maithils in Delhi also took part in the protest. According to some media reports the protest for Mithila State carried out by the organisation is biggest students protest for the demand of separate Mithila state till now.[20][21] More than ten thousands of youths had reached at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Several political figures were also seen at the protest, in which Aam Aadmi Party MLA Rituraj Jha and former MP Mahabal Mishra were prominent.[22]