New Delhi: As people across the country are celebrating after the Central Government took a bold step to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that provides special status to Kashmir, not everyone knows that it was Odisha’s legendary leader and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik who played a key role in protecting Kashmir from Pakistani forces during the formative years of the country.
Recalling the contribution of Biju Babu, who was widely known as a daring pilot-patriot of India, in saving Srinagar and Kashmir from falling in hands of Pakistani invaders, a Biju Janata Dal MP on Tuesday urged the government to confer Bharat Ratna on the former Chief Minister of Odisha.
Speaking on the Jammu and Kashmir issue in the Lok Sabha, BJD MP Pinaki Misra said it was former Odisha CM Biju Patnaik who flew the plane took several batches of soldiers to Srinagar on the dawn of October 27, 1947.
Not many know that Biju Patnaik had played a significant role in saving the land of Kashmir. “He came out as a saviour of Srinagar,” the BJD MP said.
“When in 1948, Pakistanis attacked Kashmir, killing and looting people on the way, an Instrument of Accession was signed by the last King of Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh. But the situation was slowly getting out of control. The then Prime Minister Nehru asked Biju Patnaik for help,”.
“On the dawn of October 27, 1947, he landed at the Srinagar airport bringing 17 soldiers of Sikh regiment along with him. He flew at a very low level to look around whether the enemy had already taken over the airport or not,” Misra said.
“Jawahar Lal Nehru had given very clear instructions to not land his DC-3 if he had detected Pakistani presence there but Biju Babu acted very skillfully and with great bravery accomplished the work assigned to him,” the BJD leader added.
He further said that this is a very vital fact in India’s Kashmir history not told by many people because if we had lost Srinagar in 1947 Kashmir war, we would have lost the entire territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
At a time when India is rejoicing the abolition of Article 370 and terming it as a historic event and as re-birth of Jammu and Kashmir, it is important for the new generations to turn back the pages of history and take note of an important contribution in Kashmir’s accession to India, he said.
“With most of the roads blocked by the invading forces, securing the Srinagar airport and sending troops through it was the deciding factor in India”s takeover of Kashmir,” he said. The daredevil act of “Biju Babu” is remembered fondly on this memorable day for Kashmir, the BJD MP added.
Comments are closed.