The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar, whose ancestors migrated from Bihar to the Caribbean islands in the 19th century, visited the state's Bhelupur village on Wednesday afternoon.
She was excited and emotional when she set her foot on the land of her ancestors. It is her first visit to the village. According to Buxar District Magistrate Ajay Yadav, she was welcomed by thousands of people, who had gathered since morning to have glimpse of her. "It was a memorable moment when she arrived here," he said.
She planted five trees -- Neem, Pakad, Peepal, Ashok and Barh -- near Sipariya Kali Mandir where her ancestral home was once located.
Bhelupur village is one of the hundreds of backward villages in Bihar without electricity, drinking water, good roads and a health centre.
Her ancestors -- great grandfather Ram Lakhan Mishra, are said to have migrated as Girmitiya labourers to Trinidad and Tobago, then a British colony in the Caribbean Islands.
According to an official record send by the government of Trinidad and Tobago to the Bihar government, Ram Lakhan Mishra had left Bhelupur village in Itarhi block of Buxar district, about 125 km from Patna, in 1889.
An official informed, "Bissessar will also meet her relatives during her visit.