Photo: Internet
QUICK FACTS
Full Name: Lal Bihari Mritak
Born: 1955
Born Place: Amilo, Azamgarh, India
Occupation: Farmer, activist, Social Worker
Years active: 1980-present
Known for: Fighting for the rights of people who are wrongfully declared dead, was himself declared dead between 1975 to 1994
Awards: Ig Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 2003
BIOGRAPHY
Lal Bihari Mritak is an Indian farmer and activist from Amilo, in Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, who was officially declared dead between 1975 and 1994.
He fought with Indian bureaucracy for 19 years to prove that he is alive. Meanwhile, he added Mritak (transl. deceased) to his name, and founded Mritak Sangh, the Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People, to highlight other cases like his.
UP man Lal Bihari ‘Mritak’ to remarry wife as he turns 28 as per government records
PERSONAL LIFE
He lived in a small village of Uttar Pradesh before becoming a well-known personality. In order to apply for a bank loan, Lal Bihari visited the revenue office at Azamgarh district headquarters to get proof of identity, whereupon he learned that he was officially dead. His uncle had bribed an official to register him as dead, so that he would get the ownership of Bihari’s ancestral land at Khalilabad, which measured less than an acre.
Bihari discovered at least 100 other people in similar situations, being officially dead. He formed Mritak Sangh, Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People, in the Azamgarh district.
He and many other members were in danger of being killed by those who had appropriated their property. Currently, the association has over 20,000 members from all over India. By 2004, they had managed to declare four of their members alive.
The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article on 26 September 2022. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.