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Journalism of Courage
The gutkha-spitting habit of millions of Indians seems impossible to shake off. From train stations and footpaths to office stairwells and park corners, those telltale red stains are everywhere. Now, the same unsightly trend has marred Bihar’s pride, the newly inaugurated Rajgir International Cricket Stadium.
A video circulating on X paints a grim picture of the state-of-the-art venue, which was unveiled by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on October 5. Despite its impressive design and 40,000-seat capacity, sections of the stadium’s bare brick walls are already smeared with gutkha stains, a disheartening sight for a place meant to represent progress.
In the clip, the person filming can be heard lamenting the situation: “Thukna chalu ho gaya. Gutkha Men saab aa gye hai inha. Attack chalu ho gaya hai” (Spitting has started. Gutkha men have arrived. The attack has begun.)
The caption accompanying the video reads, “Biharis spat gutkha at the first international cricket stadium in Bihar on its inauguration day.”
The video has gone viral with over two lakh views and many netizens reacting to it in the comments. A user commented, “Gutkha should not be allowed just like guns and knives.”
Another user commented, “Why don’t we ban guthka ? This problem will not go away until or unless we ban guthka completely.”
A third person quipped, “That’s a signature mark to remind that paint work is still pending here.”
One C user wrote, “That’s Bihari way of inauguration. Don’t be surprised.”
A fifth person wrote, “For me more disturbing part is that why the wall is not plastered (if it’s still not under development). India should push that last 10% to make infra look elite rather than kaam chalau attitude Wala kaam.”
