Gandhi Chowk ( Maithili: गांधी चौक) is an Indian border location near the Indo-Nepal International border line at

Madhwapur Madhwapur is a village cum Block (district subdivision)#India, block in the Madhubani district of the Mithila (region), Mithila region in the state of Bihar in India. Madhwapur is a small block with population of 1,34,704 as per population census ...

- Matihani group village in the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. It is a memorial chowk in the name of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. It is the last location of the Indian lands near the international border, after that in the north direction the lands of Nepalese territory begins. It is located near the border pillar number 295/2. The Gandhi Chowk was established after the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. A statue of the

Father of the Nation The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. Pater Patriae was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", bestowed by th ...

, Mahatma Gandhi was installed on the government land next to the India-Nepal border by the joint efforts of the freedom fighters, public representatives and social workers.

Description

The Gandhi Chowk serves as a major landmark near the Indo-Nepal International border line where the citizens of the both countries cross the border freely. There is open border policy between the two nations of India and Nepal there. But due to the open border policy between the two nations, the location is sometimes also used by other third countries foreign nationals for illegal crossing of the border. Therefore the Union

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

has deployed some SSB soldiers near the location of the Gandhi Chowk for the border security and the prevention of the illegal crossing of the other third countries foreign nationals arrived in the both nations. Matihani Border

The vicinity of the Gandhi Chowk is a prime location for the market area in the Madhwapur - Matihani group village. There are several commercial shops and commodities trading centres near the Gandhi Chowk. During business hours, the road passing through the chowk are often encroached with setting up selling products on the road by the local businessmen and consequently huge crowds of customers, buyers and traders are observed near the border line. This leads traffic jams there. The campus of the Madhwapur police station is also located near the Gandhi Chowk to maintain law and order in the region of the ''Madhwapur Thana''. Similarly, beside the police station, there is a British era's sub post office of the Madhwapur block. The historical sub post office is gradually converting into a ruins due to the negligence of the government officials. The sacred ''Uttarvahini'' bank of the

Dhouns river Dhouns (Maithili language, Maithili: धौंस) is the name of a river that flows on the plains of the Mithila (region), Mithila region of Nepal and India. It is the part of ''Adhwara'' group of rivers flowing from Nepal to the western part of ...

is situated at a distance of only 200 metres in the north-east direction from the location of Gandhi Chowk. Similarly the historical and sacred religious destination Parikrama Gachhi of Matihani is located at a distance of 900 metres in the west direction from the Gandhi Chowk.

Gandhi memorial building and statue

The statue of

installed at the chowk broke up over a time and fell down. In 1985, after the statue of the Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi installed was broken, then construction of a memorial building began at the chowk. But due to the negligence of the government officials and the local public representatives, the construction of the memorial building is still incomplete. Since then till today the statue of Mahatma Gandhi has not been installed in the memorial building. Nowadays, the memorial building has come under the grip of encroachers. The half made memorial building has been encroached by local businessmen upon which the they have set up shops of tobacco, fruits and eggs there. It is also used as rest destination by the SSB soldiers deployed at the border for the security, during their duty hours. The local MPs and

MLAs A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...

have several times promised to complete the incomplete construction of the memorial building and installation of the statue, but still the Gandhi statue has not been installed in the said memorial building. The local

Gandhians The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...

have been disappointed to see the half-constructed Gandhi memorial building. The condition of the memorial place associated with the name of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, has become pathetic. The Gandhians here have raised their voices to remove the plight of the memorial site of Mahatma Gandhi and demanded the installation of Mahatma Gandhi's statue.

References

Monuments and memorials Madhubani district Landmarks {{Nepal-geo-stub