Bhubaneswar: “In my dream of 21st century for Odisha, I would have young men and women who put the interest of the State before them. They will have pride in themselves, confidence, in themselves. They will not be at anybody’s mercy, except their own selves. By their brain, intelligence and capacity, they will recapture the history of Kalinga. I would like my Odisha of the 21st Century to have excellent artisans, Superb Craftsmen and sculptors, greatest musicians and poets”. These words of legendary architect of modern Odisha, late Biju Babu, still hold significance today as Odisha is on the cusp of breaking into the big league of welfare states. As we celebrate Biju Babu’s 108th Birth anniversary today, it is worth looking back into the importance of Biju Babu and his contribution for the development of modern Odisha.
The Odisha, that he dreamt, is being fulfilled thanks to the foundation he laid with thrust on all round development.
Biju Patnaik, also known as the Tall Man, symbolized courage, patriotism and far sightedness. He loved Odisha and its people but his love for the nation as a whole was even greater. History is witness to his courage and how he single-handedly lifted the prestige and honour of the country both before and after independence.
Bijayananda Patnaik, affectionately known as Biju Babu, was a great freedom fighter, pilot, industrialist, politician and philanthropist. He was undoubtedly a great intellectual legislator, political leader and above all a social and political reformer and architect of modern Odisha. Biju Babu’s ability to create confidence among people and inspire them to achieve big was phenomenal. His farsightedness in the 1960’s and 70’s helped Odisha to grow industrially. In the political arena, he was a colossal leader not only in Odisha but also in the country.
He strode Odisha’s political arena for more than four decades. Be in power or in the opposition, he was one of the most influential politicians of the country.
Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s freedom struggles against the British rule, Biju Babu joined the independence movement and often sheltered prominent revolutionaries in his house. His political activity since boyhood was full of adventurous. His strong determination can be established with the fact that during student life, he set out on cycle from Cuttack to Peshawar. During “Quit India” Movement, he collaborated with underground leaders and was imprisoned for several months.
A daring pilot, during World War II, it was Biju Babu, who pioneered many risky flight operations across the Himalayas to help the Chinese revolutionaries in Chiang Kaishek’s China. He once flew all the way to Stalingrad on yet another mission. The British government particularly appreciated Biju Babu’s efforts to evacuate British families from Rangoon when the Japanese invaded Burma during the Second World War.
Even while serving for the British, Biju Babu remained loyal to the Indian freedom struggle. While heading the Royal India Air Force’s air transport command, he sheltered in his home leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia and Aruna Asaf Ali who were fighting against the British.
Much of Odisha’s industrial growth today owes its genesis to Biju Babu’s efforts. He was considered a pioneer of industrial growth of Odisha. He often said, “To be born poor is not a crime but to remain so is indeed a crime, so he established a string of industries across the state. Some of his major contributions to industrialization included the Choudwar and Barbil Industrial Belts, Cuttack-Jagatpur Mahanadi Highway Bridge, Bhubaneswar Airport, Regional Collage of Education at Bhubaneswar, The Orissa Aviation Centre, Paradeep Port, The MIG factory at Sunabeda, Thermal Power Plant at Talcher , Hydro-Electric Project at Balimela, The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (now Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology), Engineering & Medical Colleges at Burla, The Orissa State Planning Board, Reorganization of districts, Ferro Silicon Complex at Theruvali, Engineering College at Rourkela, Express Highway Linking Daitari with Paradeep, Sainik School at Bhubaneswar, Regional Research Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Odisha are some of the examples of his contribution that are fueling the growth of Odisha today.
Tales and anecdotes about him are a legion. There is a story that Pt. Nehru once asked Dr. B.C. Roy – ‘Have you met a young man called Biju Patnaik’. “I have heard about him; but not yet met him”, was the reply of the Bengal Chief Minister. Nehru said, “Meet him sometime. I like such forward-looking, brave people. The only difficulty is that sometimes you don’t know where he will land you”.
Biju Babu came in contact with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during his participation in Indian Freedom Struggle. He became one of Nehru’s trusted friends. Nehru paralleled the freedom struggle of the Indonesian people to that of India. While flying the British to safety from Rangoon he also used to drop leaflets from his plane supporting the Indian National Army’s cause.
After Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru chose the young, lanky pilot for a danger-fraught mission, to carry the first contingent of Indian troops to Srinagar, surrounded by invading Pakistani tribesmen.
A few months after India’s independence, Prime Minister Nehru entrusted him with the tough task of rescuing Indonesian freedom fighters from the occupation of Dutch forces. Biju Babu, ably assisted by wife Gyana, piloted his old Dakota to Singapore on the way to Jakarta, leaving behind their 14-day-old-son Naveen at home. Landing on an improvised air-strip and using little petrol from abandoned Japanese military dumps, he flew out Indonesian leaders including Dr Sultan Sjharir and Sukarno for a secret meeting with Nehru at New Delhi amid severe bombardment from the Dutch forces.
After independence, the Indonesian government bestowed on him its Bhumiputra (son of the soil) award and honorary citizenship. In 1996, on the occasion of its 50th independence day, Biju Babu was conferred with the Bintang Jasa Utama, Indonesia’s highest national honour.
In an obituary reference the prestigious magazine, “The Economist” says, “It is worth writing about Biju Patnaik for at least two reasons. His long life can be read as something of a history of India back to the time when the country was run by the British. And he gave Indian politics a rare fresh of color”.
The Encyclopedia Britannica described Biju as “Indian Politician; who parlayed his fame as a World War-II aviator, anti-British freedom fighter and commercial airline entrepreneur into a political career, notably as Chief Minister of Orissa State, 1961-63 and 1990-95”.
Sir Julian Huxley, UNESCO’s First Director General and also a Kalinga Prize Winner, had described Biju Patnaik as a “remarkable Indian whose adventures would fill a book”.
Immediately after independence, Biju Patnaik ventured for the dare devil effort of flying resources to Srinagar. He flew the first plane that left Palam Airport at Delhi on 27 October 1947 at dawn and landed at Srinagar Airport in the early morning. He saved 17 soldiers of 1-Sikh regiment commanded by Lt.Col. Dewan Ranjit Rai.”… the pilot flew low on the airstrip twice to ensure that no raiders were around… Instructions from Prime Minister Nehru’s office were clear. If the airport was taken over by enemy, you are not to land. Taking a full circle, the DC-3 flew ground level. Anxious eye-balls peered from inside the aircraft – only to find the airstrip empty. The raiders were busy distributing the war booty amongst them in Baramulla.”
Biju Babu knew that development of any sort, economic growth and the welfare of the people in general is greatly influenced, directly or indirectly, by developments in science and technology. Championing the cause of science and technology, he believed in the modernization of society on a scientific basis. He established the Kalinga Foundation for dissemination of knowledge in science. He also founded the Kalinga Prize under the aegis of UNESCO for promoting scientific knowledge. The idea behind setting up Kalinga Prize was that everyone should have at least a basic understanding of science. Biju thus instituted this international prize as a symbolic gesture to fight poverty, conservatism, ignorance and backwardness.
One of the many path breaking initiatives that Biju Babu introduced was the Panchayatiraj system. Under his leadership, Orissa became the first state to streamline the Panchayati Raj and Local-self Government Institutions to make democracy participatory. According to Biju Babu, the goals of Panchayati Raj cannot be fructified unless there is proper devolution of financial powers to the Panchayats. His government made concerted efforts for appointment to a special finance commission to look after the domain of devolution of financial powers to the Panchayats. He was more emphatic to participation of women in the Panchayati Raj System. For the first time in the history of independent India, he brought 33 percent reservation for women in the three-tier Panchayati Raj institutions. And true to his word, he saw to it that the Orissa Zilla Parishad Act of 1991 and the Gram Panchayat Samiti Amendment Act of 1992 were passed by the Orissa Assembly that provided for 33% of reservation for women including SC and ST women.
Biju Babu’s illustrious political career abruptly ended on 17th April, 1997 when he passed away at Delhi. His demise was one of the worst tragedies that had ever happened to the State of Orissa. Grief and shock swept across Orissa as news of his death spread. Thousands of people followed his deadbody as he was being taken for cremation at the Swargadwara in Puri.
Such was the stature of this statesman that national flags of 3 countries – India, Indonesia and Russia – were wrapped on Biju Babu’s body in his last journey. Heads of countries, Premiers often do not have such privilege what Biju Babu enjoyed. His contributions in different fields are matchless. He will be remembered for ever.
Comments are closed.