Someone once asked such a question on Quora: If you are officially declared legally dead by India, how do you prove that you are still alive?
At the time, there were many commentators saying that they should go to the relevant authorities to show their identity documents, have a DNA test with their loved ones, or file a lawsuit in the civil court to ask the court to declare the death certificate invalid.
(Question on Quora)
These methods sound reasonable, but in reality, they may not be that simple.
Not long ago, Baburam Bhil, a villager from Balotra, Rajasthan, India, encountered such an oolong incident: he was judged dead by the government and received his own death certificate.
Baburam didn't know why he was suddenly "killed", at first he tried to correct this mistake through formal means, and then went to the government office and asked the village elders for help, but he tried all kinds of methods and spent a lot of money, but in the end all to no avail.
He was afraid that if he was in a state of death, the government would confiscate all his property, so he simply thought of a crooked trick - crime. And the more serious the crime, the better, so that it can attract the attention of all sectors of society and prove that he is still alive.
(Baburam Bhil decides to prove that he is alive by committing a crime)
On the 19th of this month, Baburam, armed with a knife and a bottle of gasoline, broke into the local Chuli Bera Dharana school.
His crime was not just a joke, but he actually attacked the teachers and students at the school, stabbing a total of three people, including a parent, a teacher named Suresh Kumar, and the acting headmaster Hardayal, the latter two were particularly seriously injured and the situation was quite critical.
In addition to this, Baburam also took several students and teachers hostage.
The police finally arrived at the scene and arrested him and took all the injured to the hospital for treatment.
(Baburam Bhil袭击了一所学校)
During the interrogation, Baburam confessed the reason for his crime, saying that he was looking forward to his arrest so that the police would have to register his name to prove that he was still alive.
In fact, this is not the first time Baburam has committed a crime, he has committed a number of crimes before, but it is unknown why he has not been arrested, the nature of these crimes is not yet known, and the investigation is still ongoing.
Baburam tried many times to get his wish, and now that he has become a local news figure and the photo has been published, everyone finally knows that he was "killed" and the police have to investigate.
Of course, his attack on the school should be counted separately, even if there is a compelling reason, he should never attack innocent teachers and students, and when the death certificate is lifted, there must be other punishments waiting for him.
(Schematic diagram, from the Internet)
After the incident was reported by the media, it sparked a lot of controversy. Many people spurn Baburam's extreme practices, while others feel that the government that issued the wrong death certificate is the source of everything.
Because similar situations have not happened once or twice, in India, especially in poor and remote areas, tens of thousands of people have been inexplicably officially registered as dead, many people have exhausted all means to recover their identity, and there are not a few people who commit suicide in despair.
In the city of Agra, for example, in November last year, a 70-year-old man, Dinanath Yadav, was found dead by government officials, and since then he has not received a pension and has faced a series of legal problems.
For eight months, the old man reported many times but no one paid attention to it, so he had no choice but to walk out on the street with a sign saying "I'm still alive......
（Dinanath Yadav）
As for why so many people in India are "killed", most of the reasons are actually related to money.
According to the victims' accounts, after a dispute over land and property in their homes, some relatives secretly bribed government officials to declare the victims dead, so that they could take their belongings as a matter of course.
That's why the victims have repeatedly reported it, but it has never been resolved. Originally, the government and the people secretly colluded, and admitting that the death certificate was wrong is tantamount to admitting that they were corrupt internally.
As a result, many people are forced to become the "living dead", not only their belongings are not guaranteed, but even their lives may be threatened, after all, when a person is "dead", it does not matter whether he is really dead or murdered......
(The woman Bhagwani Devi was framed by her brother-in-law)
There is a well-known example of this.
Lal Bihari, 69, from a small village in Uttar Pradesh, India, was once the victim of a similar operation.
When he was 20 years old, in order to start a factory, he decided to mortgage the land he inherited from his father and went to the bank to apply for a loan.
Bihari thought it was ridiculous, how could he be registered as dead when he was standing here as a big living person.
Later, he learned that it was his uncle who was behind the ghost. In order to take away his land, his uncle spent money to bribe officials and forcibly turned him into a "dead man".
（Lal Bihari）
Bihari has since lost his rights as an India citizen, has been ridiculed as a "ghost" by villagers, and his wife and children have been bullied.
He had no choice but to start a long road of "resurrection", but the opponent was the government, and all the legal ways he came up with were blocked, so he could only try some crooked tricks.
For example, holding a funeral for himself, and then crawling out of the coffin to attract attention, and applying for a widow's pension for his wife. He also tried to commit crimes, but the police never wrote his name in the report.
Later, he ran for prime minister as the "deceased", and sure enough, he received a lot of media attention, but none of this changed the situation......
（Lal Bihari）
During this time, Bihari added the word "Mritak" to his name, which means "deceased".
He also met many people who were in the same situation as himself, and founded the "Uttar Pradesh Association of the Living Dead" (Mritak Sangh) to unite people in the struggle for their own interests.
In this way, after unremitting attempts, in 1994, Bihari's legal status was officially restored.
From 1975 to 1994, after 18 years of "death", he was "resurrected" again and got back his property.
The event was so famous at the time that Bihari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Funny, and in 2021, the experience was adapted into a movie by Bollywood.
(This incident was adapted into the movie "Kaagaz")
Unfortunately, even with so much attention, discussion and reflection, it has not been able to change the status quo.
Until now, the government is still corrupt, and when it receives money, it is easy to remove people from the "living book".
In contrast, the Bihari Society of the Living Dead has more than 20,000 members, but few have actually succeeded in "resurrecting".
In this way, it is understandable why Baburam did not hesitate to commit a serious crime to prove that he was still alive.
In India, the cost of "being killed" is too small, but the cost of "resurrection" is too great.
I don't know if his actions this time will push the government to change......