Patna, (Bihar Times): The Bihar government has once again been taken for a ride. But so was the national media too.
Bhojpuri film actor and singer, Manoj Tiwary, the man whom chief minister Nitish Kumar took to Mauritius last July, had developed a knack to remain in news by way of creating controversy. Last week he had a verbal duel with fellow Bhojpuri star, Ravi Kishan. A couple of days back he was attacked in Biharsharif, the home turf of the chief minister, for reportedly supporting Raj Thackeray. Sometimes back he counselled railway minister Lalu Yadav not to offer Chhath Puja in Mumbia late this year.
With so much to his credit the state government last week chose to honour him on the plea that the Dutch government had reportedly issued a postal stamp on him. But the Bihar government is alone not to be blamed. On April 10 last prestigious newspapers like the Times of India, Economic Times and many others carried reports that the Dutch government had issued a stamp on him. The Economic Times even went on to write an editorial as no government had issued a stamp on a living Indian personality.
But, reports now appearing in the media suggest that Tiwary is too clever by half. Release of stamp in Netherlands is no big deal and nothing should be madeout of it. In that country, people interested in getting stamps issued in their names have to send a requisition form and if they manage to fulfil all criteria, a personalized stamp can be easily made available by the government.
Mohammed Afzal, an official at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in New Delhi, told Kolkata daily The Telegraph that “It is not exactly an honour. It is a method adopted by the postal department of Netherlands to make the snail mail more popular in the present age, especially since letters have become rather obsolete.”
Tiwary’s so-called honour was exposed when an Indian based in Netherlands last week raised doubts over the news. After getting a 44 eurocent worth stamp issued in his name, Tiwary went public with his achievement, though he had no official photographs to corroborate his ‘honour’.
Last week, the Bihar government honoured him at a ceremony in Raj Bhavan. The actor himself is busy shooting in Powaii near Mumbai.
It's a common practice in Australia also. Even my daughter has been "Honoured" with 45c worth of stamp issued with her photo on it, when she was only three months old. Unfortunately it didn't make any news anywhere. Ha! Ha! These stamps are never get sold from any postal outlets. They send it to you, as many as you want and you can use it as any normal postage stamp.
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