Followers of novelist George Orwell and Mahatma Gandhi are in a deadlock as both sides decide which of the two figures are to be commemorated. Orwell was born in Motihari village, as Eric Arthur Blair, in 1903, while his father RW Blair worked in the opium trade. Incidentally, that is the same village where Mahatma Gandhi mobilised farmers forced to work in the opium factory, triggering a satyagraha movement in one of the most historic step against British Raj.
Orwell fans discovered the small cottage where he was born and secured political agreement that the location would be preserved as a memory to the writer. However, followers of Gandhi now want to use the same location to commemorate their hero because of its links to the independence leader's efforts drive the country to sovereignty. The Indian government has passed work on the Orwell project which would over look a split of the 2.48-acre land to honour both men.
Orwell society member Debapriya Mookherjee said, "I don't think they have read anything Orwell wrote or are aware of who he is. Most people in Motihari now know he was a great writer. May be few have actually gone through his writing, but most people know who he was and about his famous books. But these developers have no knowledge of him. It is a few people with vested interests. They just want to gain monetary profit."
