PM to reunite Jeet Bahadur with his parents during his Nepal visit
Indian PM Narendra Modi with Jeet Bahadur. (Photo: ANI Twitter)
New Delhi: In a virtual diplomatic masterstroke by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he struck a very personal note on the eve of his two-day Nepal visit beginning Sunday by sharing the story of a young Nepali boy, Jeet Bahadur. A story that pulls at the heart strings of the people of two nations is perhaps one that will win Mr Modi many friends across the border as he prepares to reunite the young Nepali boy with his parents back home.
The PM, in a series of tweets Saturday evening, began by saying: “On a personal note, the Nepal visit is very special. Years ago, I met a child from Nepal, Jeet Bahadur, who did not know where he was headed.”
In Hindi, the PM tweeted: “Use kuch pata nahin tha. Kahan jaana hai? Kya karna hai? Aur voh kisi ko jaanta bhi nahin tha... bhasha bhi theek se nahin samajhta tha (He didn’t know anything. Where he’s headed? What does he want to do? He didn’t know anybody... neither did he understand the language properly).”
In another tweet, this time in English, the PM said, “I started showing my concern for Jeet Bahadur. Gradually, he took interest in academics, sports and even learnt Gujarati.”
The next chapter of the story, as narrated in the PM’s tweets, was, “Thankfully, we were able to locate his parents. I am glad that tomorrow the parents would be reunited with their son.”
Mr Modi explained that he was able to locate Bahadur’s parents quite some time back. “This was possible because he (Bahadur) has six fingers in his foot,” he tweeted.
The tweets did not, however, reveal where and when Mr Modi met Jeet Bahadur, how old the boy is or what he does now. Jeet, who was interviewed by an audiovisual news agency, said while the world knows Mr Modi as the PM, for him he was “bade bhai” (elder brother) and that he was taken care of by Mr Modi as though he was his own son. The young man also said the PM had provided him with a good education and also guided him. Now it will be a huge step for him to be reunited with his parents along with his “bade bhai”.
On a more official note, Mr Modi, who will become the first Indian PM to make a bilateral visit to Nepal in 17 years, tweeted that he is looking forward to his Nepal visit and the two countries are “time-tested friends”.
He also tweeted he was hopeful that “fruitful discussions with leaders & lawmakers of Nepal wil take India-Nepal relations to even greater heights”.
In a departure statement issued later in the evening, the PM hoped his visit will “open a new chapter in India-Nepal relations characterised by more frequent political engagement and closer cooperation across the full spectrum of our extraordinarily broad-based relations”.
The PM also said he was looking forward to working with the Nepali leadership “to forge a new relationship for the new century between our two rapidly transforming countries”. He also hailed Nepal’s “admirable progress in its peace process and political transition towards a multi-party democracy” and the successful conduct of the Constituent Assembly-cum-parliamentary elections in November 2013.
Besides official meetings, Mr Modi will also participate in a half-an-hour-long special puja at the famous Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on Monday.
Mr Modi will get prasad from chief priest Ganesh Bhatta, who hails from South India. There is a tradition of having four priests and one chief priest at the temple from the bramhins of South India for centuries. A group of 21 bramhins will chant Rudri, a holy script, as the chief priest performs the prayer, said Govinda Tandon, chief of the Pashupati Area Development Trust that manages the temple’s affairs.
Mr Modi will also offer prayers at Basuki temple, which is at the southern side of the main temple. The Prime Minister will also be presented a replica of Pashupatinath by the temple authorities.
( Source : dc )
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