Biju Patnaik was a great Indian and a prodigious Odia too. He dedicated his life to build a great egalitarian and democratic India. His life was a saga of sacrifice and adventure. His ability to create confidence among the people of Odisha and inspire them was phenomenal.
He had a remarkable capacity to transmit his cheerful strength to others. For that Julian Huxley, the great zoologist of international fame and the brother of eminent world philosopher Aldus Huxley speaking about Bijubabu rightly said, “A memorable Indian whose adventures will surly fill a book."
As per the remark of an eminent economist the 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 colour. When Dr Ram Manohar Lohia was seriously ill and admitted in Wellington hospital, New Delhi almost in a stage of coma. It was almost the daily routine of Bijubabu to come and see Lohia in the hospital which proves his loyalty and humanity. The affectionate feelings of Patnaik towords Dr Lohia brings to memory the days of the Quit India Movement of 1942 lunched by Mahatma Gandhi. Bijubabu along with Dr Lohia, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali and Achut Patwardhan kept the flag of 1942 movement flying after Gandhiji’s arrest. Bijubabu was a young pilot then. He was courageous enough to make the supreme sacrifice by actively responding to the clarion call of ‘Do or Die’ of Mahatma Gandhi. He was arrested and put behind the bars along with other leaders.
Bijubabu was born in Cuttack on March 5, 1916 in the lap of Ashalata Devi and Laxminarayan Pattnaik. Although his father Laxminarayan was in judicial service but was a great nationalist and also a prominent leader of the Oriya movement. Bijubabu inherited the qualities of fearlessness, strongness and love of Odisha right from his parents. He had two brothers and one sister. He had his early education in Mission Primary School and Christ Collegiate School at Cuttack. In 1927 he admitted in the famous Revenshaw Collegiate School where Netaji once was a student. He passed matriculation with first division and got admitted in science class of the famous Revenshaw College Cuttack. In his student career, he was an accomplished sportsman and led the university teams champion in football, cricket, hockey and athletics for three consecutive years. He discontinued studies for a B.sc degree to undergo training as a pilot at the Aeronautic Training Institute of India and Delhi Flying Club. He married Gyan in 1939.
He showed his penchant for the extraordinary at a very young age. Like his role model Napoleon, he seemed to have deleted the word ‘impossible' from his dictionary. When Japan entered the war in 1941, Bijubabu evacuated British families from the advancing invaders. He pioneered risky operations across the Himalayas to help the Chinese revolutionaries in Chiang Kai Shek’s China. He once flew all the way to Stalingrad on yet another mission. The British Government particularly appreciated his efforts to evacuate British families from Rangoon when the Japanese invaded Myanmar during World War-II.
In 1971, Bijubabu formed a State party named ‘Utkal Congress’. He then did not look back and never joined the Congress till the end of his life. After the victory in Bangladesh war in 1971, Indira Gandhi was very ruthless in dealing with those in opposition parties. Biju Pattnaik and Rabi Ray agreed for the formation of a national alternative of all opposition parties at the Centre to save the country from the impending authoritarian rule of Gandhi. Bijubabu was such a veteran leader who lost no time in getting the active cooperation of two former Chief Minister Hare Krushna Mahatab and RN Singdeo. The net result of the efforts was formation of Pragati Dal consisting of ‘ Swatantra Party(Singdeo), Utkal Congress (Pattnaik) and the Sanjukta Socialist Party (Ray) formed in Odisha. The lunching of Pragati Dal was bound to catch the imagination of the people in the State.
Bijupatnaik is considered as a pioneer of the industrial growth of Odisha and established a string of industries in misson. He set up the Kalinga Tubes, the first modern textile mills at Choudwar, the first refrigerator factory at Jobra and a low shaft furnance at Barbil. He started his own airline, the Kaling Airways and in 1947 carried soldiers to Kashmir, when he was threatened from across the newly created border sky.
At great risk, he landed the first platoon of troops in Srinagar. In 1951 he established the Kaling Prize for the popularization of science and entrusted the responsibility to the UNESCO. The MIG factory at Sunabeda, Balimela Dam, Public Corporations, Panchayat Industries, the Express High way and a lot many are his contributions. His ambitious projects, which he named as “ Decade of Destiny” was meant to elevate the State to a new height.
The period of Biju between 1961-67 is aptly described as the golden era in the history of education of the State. At his initiative the Regional College of Education was set up at Bhubaneswar .The Regional Engineering College at Rourkela was established in 1961. The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology was set up during the Chief Ministership of Biren Mitra when Biju was the Chairman of the State Planning Board. Universities were established in Brahmapur and Sambalpur.
A long illustrious career came to an end on April 17, 1997 when Biju Patnaik passed away at Delhi. In his death, Odisha lost a greatest figure. At a stretch, he was flamboyant, dynamic, reckless, daredevil and dam efficient. Another Biju Patnaik may never take birth in the soil of Odisha. But Bijubabu left a proud legacy like Naveen Patnaik, our beloved Chief Minister.
(The writer is a columnist and Editor, Margadarshi, Mob: 6370675562)
