Remembering legendary ‘Tall Man Biju Babu’; Biju Patnaik brought laurels for India
Biju Patnaik was a man of rare courage, action and creativity. He is regarded as the ’Bhumi Putra’ or the ‘son of the soil’ in Indonesia for his faring actions during the Indonesian freedom struggle in conducting rescue operations and saving the life of the then President of Indonesia, Sukarno, in the late 1940s.
Late Biju Patnaik, ex-CM Odisha (Image credit CMO Odisha)
By Pradeep Kumar Panda
Bhubaneswar, March 5: Legendary ‘Son of the Soil Tall Man’ late Bijayananda Patnaik, affectionately known to the people at large as Biju Patnaik, Biju Babu strode like a colossus in the politics and public life of Odisha, and played a very important role in our national life and politics as well. His life was an extraordinary saga of adventure and sacrifice, valour and prowess.
Born on 5 March 1916 in Cuttack, Odisha, he hailed from a family of freedom fighters, ideologues and patriots. Biju Patnaik was educated in the Mission Primary School of Cuttack and Ravenshaw Collegiate School, in the same city and, thereafter, studied in the Science stream in the prestigious Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.
Even as a student, Biju Patnaik was drawn to the national liberation movement. During his school days, Biju Patnaik took part in the freedom struggle and had to face police lathi charge while attempting to meet Mahatma Gandhi in 1926. In his formative years, he came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and the great nationalist sons of Odisha, Gopabandhu Das and Madhusudhan Das. He actively associated himself with the freedom struggle and participated in the Quit India Movement in close association with revolutionary leaders like Aruna Asaf Ali. He also underwent imprisonment from 1943 to 1945.
A nationalist to the core, Biju Patnaik was an inspiring leader who was deeply committed to the national cause, public welfare and development. He was a socialist at heart and was greatly inspired by the ideals and ideas of Acharya Narendra Deva, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Dr. Rammanohar Lohia and Minoo Masani. His life was a shining example of how commitment to certain finer human values can be the guiding force for the welfare of the people. Naturally, he was a leader of the masses who articulated their concerns in the Chambers of the nation’s representative institutions.
During his long innings in public life, Biju Patnaik was elected time and again to the Odisha Legislative Assembly as also to both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He was elected to the State Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1947. Thereafter, he was returned to the State Legislative Assembly six more times. During these eventful years, he adorned the Office of the Chief Minister of Odisha during 1961-63 and three decades later during 1990-95.
Biju Patnaik’s commitment to parliamentary democracy and to the development and progress of the country through industrialization, his concern for the development of the States and his belief in true federalism provided not only a roadmap for holistic development but also a plan of action. Biju Patnaik has been hailed as the maker of modern Odisha and the architect of industrialization in the State. Himself a successful industrialist, he brought Odisha into the map of industrial India.
Before entering the arena of politics, he had played a vital role in the industrialization of Odisha by setting up the Kalinga Airlines, Kalinga Tubes, Orissa Textile Mills, Kalinga Iron Industries, etc. Odisha’s economic development owes a great deal to Biju Patnaik for the construction of the Paradeep Port, the Express Highway, the MIG air engine factory, cement factory, several irrigation projects, etc. He also started two Universities and several other centres of higher education in the State.
Biju Patnaik believed that unless the States became strong, India could never be a strong nation. He used to assert that when he championed Odisha’s development, it was not because of any narrow consideration but to make the country as a whole strong and prosperous. He stressed that true federalism would result in strengthening India’s unity in diversity which would accelerate the pace of progress of the nation.
Concerned as he was for the poor and the downtrodden, as the Chief Minister of Odisha, Biju Patnaik took a major initiative to raise the minimum wages in the State. He was an articulate champion of women empowerment and gave due recognition to the talent of the womenfolk by making reservation not only in employment but also in local bodies in the State during his Chief Ministership. It was his commitment to women’s welfare which impelled him to take the stringent measures of enforcing prohibition and abolishing dowry.
At the national level, Biju Patnaik came to be recognized as a very eminent parliamentarian. He was a member of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Lok Sabhas representing the Kendrapara parliamentary constituency during 1977-79, 1980-84, 1984-89 and the Aska constituency during 1996-97, respectively. He was also a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1971. During 1996-97, he was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. As the Union Minister of Steel, Mines and Coal during 1977-80, he provided a new direction and dynamism to the steel industry in the country. The ‘Son of the Soil’ breathed his last on 17 April 1997 at the age of eighty-one.
Biju Patnaik was a man of rare courage, action and creativity. He is regarded as the ’Bhumi Putra’ or the ‘son of the soil’ in Indonesia for his faring actions during the Indonesian freedom struggle in conducting rescue operations and saving the life of the then President of Indonesia, Sukarno, in the late 1940s. He headed an Air Transport Command in the Second World War during 1940-42. A grateful Russia honoured him for the overtime service to the country in 1945 for flying across to the embattled Soviet troops during the Second World War. In 1948, he landed the first platoon of troops in Srinagar which fouqht the Pakistani raiders.
An icon and role model for the youth and the younger generations of India, Biju Patnaik was a great patron of science and technology and took several steps in this direction. The Kalinga Foundation and the Kalinga Prize instituted by him and monitored by the UNESCO is an everlasting testimony to his vision of modernisation of society through the dissemination of science and popularising scientific knowledge and ideas. Since its institution in 1951, the Kalinga Prize has become a source of encouragement and inspiration to all those who aspire for excellence in their respective fields.
Legendary Biju Patnaik was a great optimist and had an unshakeable faith and confidence in the infinite potential of the youth of the country. He dreamt of a prosperous and developed India where everyone had the opportunity to develop his or her personality and realize the full potential. Deep Homage to Tall Man!!!
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