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Former IPS officer Amitabh Das has returned his Police Medal in protest against the proposed demolition of a part of Khuda Bakhsh Library in Patna.

In his letter addressed to the President of India, who confers the medal, Das alleged that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, in connivance with some corrupt contractors and ‘tender mafia’, has decided to raze a portion of the library to the ground.

”The library is a legacy of the entire human race, a symbol of the ”Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb. The whole of Bihar is proud of it. As a book-lover, I am deeply shocked by this decision. I served the country for many years as an IPS officer. I am returning to you the police medal given by the Government of India to protest the Nitish government’s decision,” read his letter.

As per the plan prepared by Bihar State Bridge Corporation, the library’s demolition will, among other things, raze a reading room named after former Viceroy Lord Curzon to the ground to pave way for the construction of a flyover to reduce traffic congestion in central Patna.

To take the protest to a larger circle, Das has launched a campaign named ‘Har shakhs, Khuda Baksh’ to protect the library from demolition.

This is not the first time the former IPS officer is being critical of the government. Back in 2018 the IG level ranked officer was given premature retirement. He earned the wrath of governments by exposing the wrongdoings of them from time to time.

One such instance was his intervention in the railways. Das found that it was poor quality railway work that caused derailment of trains and other accidents. He also exposed the nexus between the railway minister and mafia contractors and their areas of operation.

Others along with him in the rescue mission of the library are Members of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). They have also written to Nitish Kumar seeking his intervention to protect the historical Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library from demolition. 

The library is home to the personal collections of Mughal king Shah Jahan, Princess Jahan Ara and a rare copy of ‘Ode to Napoleon’ penned by Lord Byron with two stanzas written in the poet’s own hand.  It also hosts paintings made during the Rajput and Mughal eras of India.

Formally established in 1891, the library reportedly contained nearly 4000 manuscripts to begin with. In 1969, Parliament passed a special Act declaring it as an Institution of National Importance.