Biography
An inhabitant of Amilo in Azamgarh district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, when Lal Bihari tried to apply for a bank loan in 1975, he visited revenue office at district headquarters, Azamgarh to get a proof of identity, here he found out that he was officially dead: his uncle had bribed a government 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 a similar situation, 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 all over India. By 2004 they had managed to declare four of their members alive.
Over the years Bihari tried to attract attention to his situation by various means. He organized his own funeral and demanded widow's compensation for his wife. In 1980 he added the word "mritak" ("dead") to his name and signed his letters "late Lal Bihari". He stood for election against Rajiv Gandhi in 1989 and lost, to prove that he is alive. In 1994 he managed to have his official death annulled after a long legal struggle.
In 2004 he ran for a seat in the parliament of Lal Ganj.
Bihari continues to support other people in similar situations. In 2004 he sponsored fellow Mritak Sangh member Shivdutt Yadav when he contested election against Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Film-maker Satish Kaushik will be making a movie about his life and death, titled Mritak. Bihari was awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Award in 2003.
Read more about this topic: Lal Bihari
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